Himitsu wo Mamoru
by acyp
Summary: [Sequel] Seeing how it was so hard to keep from her teammates, how is Taiya fairing in keeping The Secret from the whole student body? And possibly the other schools? Mild!FujixOC as-much-romance-as-middle-school-provides [EDITINGLIKEMAD]
1. New Beginning: Bad Start

Legend:

"This" is speech.

_'This' _is thoughts.

_'This'_ is the inner thoughts Taiya usually has, but does not appear very often.

**"This" **is to signify those who are capable of speaking Chinese, are speaking Chinese -.- You get the point.

* * *

"God~! It's hot!"

Most of the student body of Seigaku Junior High would recognise this figure as Sanzushi Taichi, a Regular on the boys tennis team. It was only natural that talented, 'handsome' tennis players were to be admired from around the school campus.

But that's only a small part of it. Recently, something _really _screwed up the boys tennis team. That's Sanzushi Taichi. Why?

**!Because h_e's _a _'she_'!**

Sanzushi Taiya had taken the role of a male transfer student from China ever since the start of her 3rd year in Middle School, befriending Fuji Syusuke the Tensai and Kikumaru Eiji the Acrobat as both team-mates and classmates. It was a secret that had remained unrevealed...for a total of 3 months maximum. To think it was nearly the end of February.

_'I can't believe it was only two weeks ago.' _

By this time, everyone was working extraordinarily hard in preparation for the next tournament. Although they were a renowned school for bringing up great tennis athletes, they 'can't let their guard down'. Not as if it's possible with Tezuka Kunimitsu as their legendary National-level captain.

Taiya, who was known to become influenced by her nerves, had to be consulted by Oishi and Momoshiro a few times in order to raise her self-esteem.

I know; pathetic.

"Tai-senpai, you beat Taka-san once, right? That's not an easy thing to do," said Momoshiro, giving a playful pat on her back. Taka-san agreed.

"Yes, e-even if you're not a power player like Momoshiro and myself, you're flexible like Eiji," he stated. This seemed to help Taiya a bit. She gave a small smile.

"Thanks..."

"No problem. Hey, Tai-senpai! Wanna join me, Echizen and Eiji-senpai over for burgers?" Momoshiro said enthusiastically. "It'll fill you up after all this tennis practice! Plus," he grabbed her arm, fully exposed as she was wearing the Seigaku T-shirt, and he easily could touch his fingers together as he held her forearm with his hand. "You're too skinny! You gotta put more meat onto those bones!"

Taiya laughed. She snatched her arm back and said, "I'm touched that you care about my well-being, Momoshiro-kun." She grinned before she tensed her arm up, now showing a light fix of toned muscles in her forearm. "But I think I'll be fine for now. If I'm in the mood, I'll join you guys after school at the burger joint."

"You don't know how weird it is that I know you're a girl but you have a weird voice."

"Shut up before I do something illegal."

"Yes, _senpai_ -.-"

Taiya headed over to the taps and let the chilled water run into the large basin, where she soon splashed it onto her heat-radiating face.

_Things were finally falling back into place_, she figured, smiling to herself.

Two weeks; what a magical number. After two weeks, Fuji and her were on better speaking terms, which she was glad for, and the atmosphere had loosened up around them. There used to be times where she felt like she was suffocating in his very presence. It didn't help that he was her next door neighbour. She had to wake extra early just to avoid walking with him. And that wasn't the best option for Taiya, who ended up getting tired in the middle of classes.

-CLICK-

A flash of a camera caught her attention before the thrashing of the bushes told her that the impudent photographers had gotten away

_'Newspaper...club?' _

"Tai-san, we're all going to run laps now. Quickly, before we get in trouble."

A voice broke her out of her thoughts, and she turned, only to see Taka-san smiled gently, waiting for her to come.

Kawamura Takashi; Seigaku's third year power player, also referred to as 'Taka-san'. Taka-san has this, well, _thing_ where whenever he grabs hold of a racquet, he goes into personal thing called 'Burning Mode'. He was the first player Taiya played against in Seigaku, and had given her the points to be able to become a Regular. Taiya planned to never play against him ever again in future.

"_Aa_."

"And, uh, Tai-san..."

Taka-san had a bit of a flush on his face. He tugged on his shirt, staring away at the sky, and Taiya stared at him inquiringly. Taka-san's tugging seemed to be a lot more urgent, and only then did Taiya stare down.

_'Oh God.' _

Her tennis t-shirt was stuck onto her body due to the excess sweat and, despite the tight wraps bounding her chest like a corset, there was a tiny—no, _miniscule _detail of telling that _Taichi _was actually a girl. Taiya quickly pinched a section of her shirt and flapped it, making it all loose and ruffled again.

"E-eh, thanks, Taka-san," she said gruffly, coughing into her hand, embarrassed. She pumped a fist into the air. "Alright, practice!"

Yep. Taiya realized as she was running that it was harder to hide her true gender now, for she was 14 and still 'growing'. Not that she was _too _worried, because she from the start was flat-chested, having not inherited too much of her mothers feminine figure. Sanzushi Aiki had even commented that she thought she had two sons instead of one, which deeply offended Taiya, surprisingly enough (seeing as Fuji and Eiji constantly told her that she _enjoyed _being a boy).

_'It wouldn't be all that bad to be a boy, actually. For one...I could adjust to the practices a lot better than now,' _the girl thought, rubbing her arm muscles. _'It's getting increasingly harder for me day by day.'_

No matter how Taiya looked in the mirror while she was in the guys uniform, she knew she was a girl. She was still a girl trying to adjust to the boy's practices.

And so even if she could mentally take the challenge, her body speaks otherwise.

"Hey, Tai!"

Kikumaru Eiji and Fuji Syusuke stood in front of her, dressed in their school shirts and pants. "Everyone's out of the change room now; you can go in."

"No wonder you always went in last," Eiji snickered.

"Well, I'm still a girl."

"That's why we're worried~," joked Eiji, holding a hand over his mouth as he continued sniggering.

"Shut up, Eiji; what I mean is, I'm a normal girl, not a fan girl. Anyway, you guys go ahead or you'll be late."

They both waved as they left. Taiya returned the gesture with a nod before disappearing into the change rooms. As usual, it was a bit of a mess, with water everywhere and papers scattered across the floor. Steam clouded up the mirrors and the smells of various colognes and deodorants lingered heavily in the air.

But Taiya could distinctly recognise the delicate smell of the cologne Fuji wore...

Taiya suddenly blushed, flabbergasted.

_'How the Heck do I know what he __**smells **__like? This room is dangerous—it's giving me the creeps! I gotta get out of here, gotta get out!'_

Taiya re-emerged from the change rooms with her uniform worn neatly on her small frame. Although, Taiya does admit she has grown a little taller seeing as she took a sneak peek in Inui's data book...and she had grown a good 1 cm definitely. Anything in Inui's book was about 99.99 percent correct.

Well, 10 more centimeters and she's catching up to Fuji.

* * *

Eiji, who sat in the seats behind Taiya and Fuji, observed his two friends in the front, chatting rather formerly with each other since they were seat-mates. Eiji was the unlucky one to be casted away from the group—English lesson was the only lesson they didn't get to choose their own seats.

But Eiji gave a mischievous chuckle from his seat, staring at his two friend's backs over the top of his English Literature book. _'They make a surprisingly good pair from afar, even though the different colours of eyes and all...but they match! Black with brown, purple with blue! It's so charming!'_

"Ah, I've ran out of lead."

"Here, you can use some of mine, Fuji."

"Ahh, thanks, Tai."

_'Ahhhhh~, the beautiful love that sparks between them _(what love?)_! What a match made in Heav_—_'_

"Oi, Fuji! What the Hell was that flash? Don't tell me you took _another _friggin' random picture of me again!"

"Fufufu (evil chuckling). Of course not."

"That wasn't convincing at all, you—!"

A disappointed Eiji laid lifeless on his desk behind them.

_'Maybe I'm wrong...'_

_

* * *

_

"Oi, is it just me, or is Eiji staring at us a LOT?"

"You only just noticed?"

"Shut up, I'm not a genius like you."

"It doesn't take a genius to notice that."

"Aiya, you're getting on my nerves."

During the last 15 minutes of mathematics class, Taiya and Fuji—the fastest workers in the class—ended up talking about...well, anything that came to mind after completing all board notes and book exercises.

"So..."

"...Yes?"

"Just trying to make conversation. Hey, I know!" said the transfer student abruptedly. "Let's do that question thing! Where we ask a question, then the other person asks a question and so forth!" She gave a grin. "We may be constantly near each other, but we know nothing about each other."

"Hmms, so...can I start first then, Tai-kun?"

Taiya twitched but smiled pleasantly.

"Please."

"Favourite colour?"

"Blue? Or purple?" _'That's why his eyes are nice.' _Taiya suddenly choked and realized her mistake. Staring at Fuji gravely from the corner of her eye, she pulled a face. _'What the Hell is wrong with me?' _"My turn; birthday?"

"It has technically passed already."

"Aiya, and I was going to get you something," the girl said to herself, unaware the brown-haired classmate of hers overheard.

And he had to wear that silly little hopeful smile on his face.

"Planning to get me something? Oh, I'm so touched—"

"Don't think ridiculous things and just answer the question!"

"_Hai, hai—_February 29th."

As these words circulated around her head...

"Huh? T-that means you only celebrate every 4th year?" _Fuji sure was a unique baby_, Taiya thought with a small sweat-drop on the side of her face. "So that means...we can only celebrate next year, hah?"

Fuji glanced towards his present he-she classmate ("Don't call me a he-she!" rages Taiya) with an unreadable expression. "Is there something wrong?"

"N-nah, nothing. Just me thinking too much—"

"Oooh, that's rare—"

"You spoiled the mood, Fuji!" said Taiya rather sourly in a hushed voice, careful to not attract any more unneeded attention onto herself and her seat mate. Then the school bell gave a mind-ringing screech, and their teacher lowered his glasses before dismissing them for lunch.

"I think it's my turn to ask a question now. But let's get seated first and have lunch."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure," she replied absent-mindedly, walking around, not really paying attention to her surroundings. Unlike most of their classmates, the two enjoy either pacing the school grounds or sitting in the shade of an undisturbed tree instead of hanging around the classroom with the annoying buzz of other company. That is if they are in the company of each other, of course (they both gag to think of spending too much time around each other). Fuji plopped down on the soft ground, the redolence of the sweet, freshly-mown grass meeting his nose.

"Okay, Taiya," Fuji started, knowing it was safe to call her by her original name. "Do you have any love interest right now—" He quickly caught the dim sim she threw roughly towards his _beautiful _face. He took a bite. "There are better ways to offer food, Ta—-"

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU MEAN 'DO I HAVE A LOVE INTEREST'?"

Dead silence greeted these words.

Suddenly the sound similar to buzzing bees caught her ears and she glanced around only to see girls blushing as they whispered in huddles, looking at Fuji and herself. And only then did she realize she had stood out from outrage when she shouted that last comment. Guys smirked and laughed from around, and others didn't care at all. Taiya flushed, arms shaking beside her as she plopped back down onto the grass. Grumpily grabbing a half-cold spring roll, she shoved it in her mouth while glaring at Fuji, who seemed _happy _that she had just embarrassed herself in a whole crowd of people.

"Dammit, we look so gay, two guys sitting under a—" Taiya glanced up. "—Sakura tree? God, you know how homo this looks?" she said, outraged.

"It doesn't really matter if 'two' guys, or shall I say 1 and a half—"

"I'm not sure how to take that, seeing as I'm supposed to be a guy but am originally a girl. Being half a guy isn't good on both accounts—"

"Anyways, back to the conversation; what I meant was, do you have anyone in mind now?" he explained, repeating the question for her. She gave a forced sweet smile.

"A-ah, I see you're s-still asking that, eh, F-Fuji?"

"Your smile looks so demon-like," Fuji sighed dreamily, obviously mocking her.

"Thanks for sharing," Taiya said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"So, are you going to answer?" said Fuji. Taiya lightly punched him on the arm, shooting him a particularly nasty glare.

"What happens if I said I _do _have one?" said Taiya, closing her eyes as she ate her lunch. What she saw after she opened her eyes though was totally unexpected. The corner of Fuji's mouth twitched and his smile seemed force.

_'Bloodlust!'_

"Oh, so you _do _now, heh?" he said. Taiya shivered. He was beginning to freak her out. She retreated, nervous sweat dotting her forehead. "E-eh, what I meant was—"

"Is it me?" said Fuji abruptly, all smiles all of a sudden. ^^

Taiya froze comically into a block of ice, eyes turning into mere dots.

After the ice shattered by itself, she shouted, "WHAT THE HELL?" Despite being supremely, eh, angered, her face was crimson and her ears were turning red too—a danger sign.

NOW even MORE people were staring their way, and things didn't look...so good...

...or _sound _so good...

"Oh my God! First the question, and now Taichi-kun is blushing!"

"Do you think they're in a forbidden relationship?" a girl squealed excitedly.

Taiya froze, ears twitching in the process. She slowly turned around. "No..." She stared at Fuji. "No..." She stared at the tree. "No...! ...NO!" She stared up at the sky, fist raised.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Reputation; tarnished.

* * *

**A/N: **First chapter of the sequel—long, boring and draggy, but you get the point.

Needs further editing, but for not it will have to do since ff. net took off the self-typed dashes that act as separators. -.-

Thanks for reading~!


	2. Homo WHAT!

**A/N -**

Re-cap un-needed.

Onwards~!

* * *

"Oh my God! It's them!"

"_Suteki _(beautiful)...!"

"It's hard to believe...!"

Doesn't this sound like the usual chatter about the Seigaku Regulars?

What about now:

"To think they're in a forbidden relationship~!"

"So those two are the ones in the rumours..."

"Who confessed first?"

"Eh, to think they're the same gender as us..."

"But they suit each other!"

Ringing laughter greeted these words; the worst days of Taiya's life have officially arrived.

-.-

"Fujiko~! Ta-i-chi~!" Eiji latched himself onto his two friends, grinning in the middle of the group. They were so tightly held together that it looked like they were in a three-legged race. "What's this talk about you two...

-Be

-ing

-in

-love?"

Taiya gagged and choked at those words while Fuji patted her back to try ease the coughing. This might have been considered a normal gesture for people who weren't rumored to be gay -.-.

Now the looks they received now looked even more suspicious, and the girls, though they were fans of theirs, were teamed up in excitement. _'Why do you people find gay-love beautiful...?' _Taiya thought inwardly as comical waterfall-tears ran down from her eyes T.T _'Japan sure is a strange place...'_

Noticing Taiya's strange silence, Fuji struck up a conversation. "What's wrong, Tai?"

The face he saw next was nothing short of murderous.

"What's wrong, you ask? What's _wrong_?" said Taiya, gritting her teeth. Wasn't Fuji supposed to be a genius? "One; I came down here from China for tennis and instead am mistaken for a _**HOMO**_. Two; people think it's with _the _tennis_ tensai_ whom I have trouble keeping my temper with. Three; I HAVE a bad temper and cannot take this shit!"

A pregnant silence followed this statement.

Eiji pulled what was supposed to be a reassuring grin. "Don't worry, Tai! These things'll calm down in, like, 2 weeks or so! Don't worry; rumours like this dissipate very fast."

"Two we—_two weeks_?" Taiya spluttered.

This was a nightmare. No, worst than a nightmare—in her nightmares, usually the stories aren't linked to the present life. Where were all the werewolves and vampires and falling off the building sensations? Why was HE, Fuji Syusuke, in this Nightmare?

Oh, because it's not a nightmare and reality, duh. Taiya could have kicked herself then.

"It was bad enough that it persisted from yesterday! All because—" She shot Fuji a piercing glare, which had no effect what-so-ever on him. "—You _had _to choose to sit under a _sakura _tree. It would have looked okay if Eiji was there, since there's three people, but..." Taiya inhaled a lungful of air before letting it out slowly.

Fuji backed off, a nervous sweat drop on his temple. "Uhh, Tai, calm down. Like Eiji said, this whole thing'll calm down as well. All we have to do is just take precaution and not add oil to the fire, neh?"

Taiya kept walking with her eyes close, not listening. "Whatever. I'm going to class—"

"Tai, watch out!"

Taiya accidentally tripped over an interfering bucket of water in the path. Her eyes dilated with shock; everything seemed to be going in slow motion. Out of reflex, her body turned away from the floor 180 degrees...

...seeing two orbs of pure blue...

Yeah, Fuji had caught her, one arm wrapped around her lower back just in time before she fell as the other was held in the air to balance out their combined weight.

And they both stared into each others eyes in eerie silence.

_'W-what?'_

Realizing the _extremely _weird position she had just been caught in, she scrambled up and thanked him before running through the halls in embarrassment, blushing a 37 shades of red along the way. Some guys hooted in laughter, but Taiya was in no position to glare and threaten them.

She might be mistaken for hitting on them or something.

* * *

"Sanzushi! Concentrate on the game! Don't get careless!"

"Yes...master," said the half-Chinese transfer under her breath as Tezuka walked away, eyes scanning the tennis grounds in search for slackers and trouble-makers.

The other Regulars watched as Taiya threw the yellow ball up in the air and served as hard as she could. _'Gotta focus, gotta focus. Snap out of it, Taiya!' _She watched as the ball soared towards her and she forced a grin, trying to get into the mood. She smacked it back with a fast forehand. _'Alright! I love tennis, so I gotta focus! Who cares if the whole school is talking about you being...g_—_'_

"Tai-senpai; watch out!" she distinctly heard Momoshiro shout from afar.

-SMACK-

Taiya keeled backwards as the returned ball impacted upon her forehead, leaving a round, red mark in place of her natural complexion. Her back ached from the sudden contact with the green courts. The sounds of people gasping and scurrying about met her ears.

She stared directly into the sky, thankful that her cap did not get brushed off her head. _'I hate you, Fuji. Look what you've done to my life. Oh God, I wish I just went back to China. This sucks. I hate it.' _Swirls and puffs of white clouds brushed across the blue...

...and two clouds strangely resembling two boys drifted towards each other so that they linked into an embrace?

...?

Taiya blanched. _'WHAT THE F-? I'M STRAIGHT! Wait, I'm a GIRL! I CAN'T BE GAY WITH FUJI IF I'M A GIRL! Wait, but then again, everyone else doesn't know that but our team...' _Inwardly, she cursed her next-door neighbour, who seemed arguably more sly when it came to her—or possibly all new people.

Wait, where was he...?

"Tai, are you alright?" Fuji's face appeared right in front of hers, blocking off her vision of the sun and sky.

"**AHHHH**!"

The girl jumped up as though she had just received a huge electrical shock and panted for breath like she had just run a mile non-stop. "Godjesusbuddhaallah! I mean—Fuji! Don't do that!"

"Well, you didn't seem to get up after you fell, so I thought something was up," said Fuji. People were staring...yet again. _'100 yen on who they're looking at,' _Taiya thought darkly (she got a cut on her allowance). Taiya grabbed her tennis racquet and tapped her left shoulder with it.

"Let's just get back to practice before I jump off the school building," she said darkly, stalking off as she engaged herself into a very violent monologue.

* * *

One week had passed...only with the rumours being worst than ever. But when ever Taiya walked down the halls where most conversations were held, the groups or giggled and didn't speak a single word in her presence. With no source of information from the student body, including her unwilling Seigaku Regular Team-mates, Taiya was forced to be shunted into the darkness, deprived from the gossip involving herself floating around.

_'It's about me, so I have a right to know!'_

The longer these rumours kept up, the worse Taiya's mood seemed to be; she didn't think she could make it through 2 weeks without causing a random passerby much grief and despair.

And Fuji wasn't helping.

In many cases, he had actually caused the number of rumours to soar sky-high, making it 'one-of-the-most-interesting-topics-since-5-years ago'. The two of them had been caught in several _very _normal situations—such as Fuji passing her an eraser and her saying thank you—but it seemed as though everyone was doing their best to twist every sighting into a beautiful scene between two lovers trapped in a forbidden relationship.

Once he wasn't even around and she had accepted a tissue from another male classmate—one who didn't care about the rumours, of course—and she was accused of cheating on him!

Guys were now scattering away from her.

'_Goddammit, I'm not after your asses! So please, don't add fuel to the fire!' _she inwardly cried tears of dismay after classmates she got along with avoid eye contact with her.

Taiya stepped out of her house, feeling the ever-so-refreshing wind sift passed. How much she desired to stay home that day, but Aiki, who was known for being very strict while concerning Taiya and Taichi's studies, refused to let her stay home from school.

_**"Only if you've been suspended will you ever stay at home, and mind you, it won't be a pleasant stay!"**_

_**"Then does that mean...all I have to do is cause trouble, then I can stay home**_—_**"**_

_**"**__**星花**__**(Xing Hua)!"**_

Taiya grumbled to herself, head bowed down as she grumpily stared at her shoes. _'I have pride too, you know? I have DIGNITY! I am standing here right now, dressed as a boy with the lamest Chinese name ever, and I am rumoured to be gay with_—_'_

"Good morning, Taiya."

_'_—_HIM!'_

"'Morning, Fuji." She was surprised she managed to say that, and she guessed she didn't say it very enthusiastically since Fuji found his way in front of her, bending his knees slightly to look at her face as they walked slowly along the path.

"Are you still caught up with that whole rumour around school?" he asked. Taiya's eye twitched; he was so calm! While she suffered something she has never had to suffer before, he goes smiling as though it's fine to be rumoured to be a homosexual!

Thoroughly annoyed, her head shot up sharply to that she could retaliate face to face, only to immediately regret it, because...

...well, because her lips just softly brushed against the corner of his mouth when she looked up ^^.

Then silence.

Taiya watch as Fuji's face looked as though he was fevered, while she felt her own face heat up. What should she do...

One; treat it as it was nothing (which is too OOC for her overall).

Two; merely wipe her mouth and continue on her way to school.

or Three; scream, bloody murder and continue to be the melodramatic Taiya.

**"AHHHH! ****ああああああああ阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿阿！！！！！！****" **

Ah, sounds about right; she had chose option three.

Springing back a meter and a half (which was amazing enough as it is, considering her height), she wiped her mouth furiously with her exceptionally clean blazer, saliva now marking its territory amongst the surface.

"GODMOTHEROFWHATTHEHELL! Th-that wasn't even your CHEEK, man! That—that was..." she spluttered helplessly, looking as lost as a puppy. Fuji, although flushing a cute baby-pink, sweat-dropped as Taiya imitated being poisoned. The sounds similar to an out-of-tune radio flooded out of Taiya's mouth.

"!"

"Um, Taiya," he started, trying to divert both their attention away from the incident that just occured only moments ago, "I think we have to get to school—"

"What happens if someone saw that?" Taiya turned to show a tortured face. "I can't believe this is happening to me!" She looked like she was going to cry.

Fuji felt a slight pang of guilt; she _was _his friend, he guessed, and he could try help her out a bit, even though it _was _amusing to watch her cringe in what appeared to be burning pain. But seeing as though she was clearly not amused...

"Taiya, I'm sure nobody saw that; nobody really crosses past here, as far as I know," Fuji reassured. _'Maybe I should have said something, or done something...she looks like she's sold her soul to the Devil himself...but that's only a little out of the ordinary I guess.'_

"This is insane...incredibly insane..."

The atmosphere around them as they took their trip to school seemed to smother them into silence; nobody spoke a single word after that. When they were a couple of blocks to school, Fuji saw from the corner of his eye Taiya suddenly freezing up in mid-step.

"Fuji...I'll take a different route to school."

Fuji was mildly surprised. "Huh? What—"

"If we're seen walking together _again_, who knows what dirty oil it's adding on to the fire," said Taiya darkly, her hands making a strange motion as though it's itching to strangle someone. She pointed to another street, which had a nice wall of trees along the edge. "There's a route around there through the parks. I'll go through here."

"Isn't that route longer though?" said Fuji. Taiya gave a grim smile.

"I can handle it. _Ja ne,_ Fuji."

* * *

During classes, Taiya tried to avoid Fuji in as many cases as possible. "We can't be seen together all the time. This is just for now, Fuji," Taiya had said to the cerulean-eyed tennis genius. "See you at tennis practice."

Fuji felt oddly alone, even with the hyperactive Eiji by his side.

The last few 20 minutes of practice was self-training. Free time to either have practice matches against each other, practice some skills etc. Lucky there were so many courts. She busied herself by aiding Ryuzaki-sensei in teaching the freshman and non-Regulars.

That's the wisest thing to do, next to burying herself in the garden around the corner, or drowning herself in the taps.

"Ah! You got your grip wrong."

Soon after, Taiya exited from the fence, sweat towel hanging around the back of her neck as she downed the rest of the water in her sports drink bottle. When she looked at the front again, however, she found herself facing 2 girls as tall as herself, with the help of the large heel on their school shoe. _'Hah, take that, everyone, I'm not _that _short.'_

"Uhh, how may I help you two?" Taiya had a 6th sense telling her that this was not going to please her.

One girl bravely stepped up front and was about to speak when the other pulled her friends sleeve, ushering her not to say anything.

"No, you can't ask that—"

"You want to know too, don't you?"

"Eh—"

"Tai-kun, we'd like to know if..." The girl trailed off. Taiya cocked her head, staring at her inquiringly.

"Yes...?"

The girl flushed and said the next sentence in such a fan-girl-ish squeal that it was hard to distinguish, with Taiya's rather lousy Japanese colloquial comprehension being as good of a use as an inflatable dart board.

"We'd like to know if you and Fuji-kun are really in a relationship!" they had squealed.

There goes the whole 'turning into a block of ice' thing again.

_'...If Rickii and that found out my popularity was spiked by a possible homosexual characteristic trait, I'm never gonna hear the end of it.' _Tears suddenly ran down Taiya's face like waterfalls as she countered, _'It's worst if brother finds out; he'd piss himself laughing!'_

Regaining her composure, she said—as politely as she could—"I'm sorry, but that is _not _true." She was surprised she could remain rather calm in such a dire situation. Dire situation. "Some...some _person _has been spreading this around, making things seem a lot...different then it was in the first place."

The girls whom Taiya finally realized as Hana and Riko glanced at each other, both sophomores in the school. Riko turned back to face Taiya. "So then, what is the talk about you two cuddling together at a lunch time—"

"Girls, may I ask you something?" They both nodded. "Please _kindly _tell me the stories you have heard. And if possible, tell me who you heard them from." Taiya's temper, which was always hovering near the surface now, was reaching boiling point in a very subtle manner.

'_Whoever spread it better sleep with one eye open just in case.'_

"I only heard it from my friends, who got the story off another _senpai_," said Hana, trying to force down her giggles. She was one of 'Taichi's' fans. "They said one lunch time, Fuji-sama and Tai-kun were hugging during yesterdays lunchtime, whispering—"

"—sweet words into each others ears," Riko finished, sighing romantically.

Now there's a bad case of Chinese whispers.

"Hana-san, Riko-san," she started, earning immediate and undivided attention from the both of them.

"_Hai_!"

"If you don't mind..." Taiya tilted her head to the side and gave her most charming smile, causing the two to have a rapid blush form across their face; pheromones, activate. "I'd like you to tell as many people as you can that the rumour is false. Extremely fictional. Can you do that for me? It's a bit of a hassle, to tell you the truth." _'Taking advantage of my status.'_ Taiya inwardly held a victory sign on her hand.

"_H-hai_!"

"Thank you—"

"Tai!" Fuji came jogging up towards Taiya, and she stared quizzically at him; this was the first time he came to search for her, despite her avoiding him. The two girls seemed to melt in the presence of two of the famous Seigaku Regulars.

"Yeah...?"

"I need to discuss something with you."

"Huh?" Now Taiya was confused more than ever. Glancing at the two girls behind her, she started, "What are you—"

She was already pulled away by Fuji helplessly against her will.

After reaching a rather secluded part of the school grounds under a tree—_not_ a Sakura tree this time—Taiya tried to gain breath as she stared at Fuji with an expression that shouted that she was annoyed. "Okay, what is it? You know that things are still as hectic as ever, so—"

"Tai..." Fuji's smile broadened. "Let's go on a date this Sunday!"

…

What the (beep) is this guy thinking?

* * *

**A/N –** A little long, but… was it okay? Review if you can? Thank you for reading.

And to people who hate this story to the very depths of Hell, I still won't stop typing it bwahahah!

...Because I like the memories. Sometimes.


	3. Operation 'Date'

**A/N** – For those who haven't read Himitsu…I'm surprised you got up this far while understanding the plot. LOL. I highly recommend reading Himitsu first…duh.

Re-cap: "Tai...let's go on a date this Sunday!"

----

Sanzushi Aiki dropped the pans she was holding onto the floor. "You're going on a date with Fuji-kun?!"

Taiya winced at the sound of the loud, clanging metal banging into each other. She then wore a rather uncomfortable expression as she remembered Fuji's words from a few days ago...

**_"Are you serious?! Fuji, that's gonna make things _worst_-"_**

_**"I'm talking about Taiya, not Taichi, silly." Taiya stared at him with a hard gaze.**_

_**"What do you mean?"**_

**_"This Sunday is the Seasons Grounds Festival; hoards of people attend. Including a lot of the students of Seigaku."_**

_**"So that means...oh!! Right!!"**_

_**"Exactly."**_

Taiya gave a small smile. "Mum, it's just a plan to cover up this weird-ass rumour down at school; it means _nothing_-"

"FINALLY!! My 星花 (Taiya's name) finally turning into a normal girl!,"her mother exclaimed happily.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"

Aiki laughed heartily. **"I'm serious; you were like my second son." **She added in Chinese.

"妈 (mum)!"

Taiya let out a grumble as she walked up the steps to her room. Her mother was always pestering Taiya about doing amateur modeling or something that would make her all _girly _and all. Taiya walked up the short flight of stairs to her room, kicking a stray soccer ball on her bedroom floor. _'I wish brother would come visit already…'_

Feeling rather drowsy, Taiya shut her eyes for a bit. _'Today's the festival thingo...but the main festivities thing starts at 5:00pm...I was supposed to meet Fuji at 11am...' _She opened one eye and glanced at her bedside clock. _'And it's only 9am now...'_

"星花, I'm gonna go out and buy some groceries!! Come home for dinner- oh, and invite Fuji-kun if you like! No need to waste money on dinner outside, okay?," her mum called up the stairs.

Taiya grumbled back, too lazy to answer back with a comprehensible word.

The clock ticked on...

What felt like seconds later, Taiya heard her phone ringing off. _'Shut up!!!' _The ringing continued, playing the catchy tune of a popular Chinese song. _'I said-'_

"-SHUT UP!!," Taiya yelled into the mouth-piece of her phone after accepting the call. There was silence, before she heard laughter at the end; very hard laughter. She sweat-dropped, feeling rather embarrassed.

"Ehh...who's this?"

"_T-this is Fuji_," the voice answered in between laughs. "_I guess you were sleeping, huh?_" Taiya blushed.

"What the Hell?! And anyways, how'd you get this number?! I didn't even give it to you!," she accused. Fuji ceased his laughs into light chuckles before answering, "_I got it off Eiji who got it off Inui._" She felt the sweat-drop on her head get distinctively bigger. "Inui ceases to amaze me," she breathed.

"_Sorry?_"

"I said Julius Caesar is my ex-boyfriend!!" she shouted, irritated.

Have I mentioned that she spews random crap whenever she's impatient and wants to get to the point?

"_That's incredible? But you know, he ended up going with Cleopatra too_-"

"Now, why are you calling anyway, Fuji?" interrupted Taiya as she got up from her bed and gave her limbs a stretch.

"_Well, I knocked on the door a couple of times, then I rang the doorbell, and then finally after waiting 2 minutes, I decided to call you; it's 11 o'clock already_." 

"EHHHH?!" She picked up her clock and stared at the time, seeing the numbers 11:03PM blink back at her with fluoro green light. "天啊 (Heavens!)! So sorry- I'll come down right now; hold on!"

Snapping her mobile shut with a click, she jumped before sitting on the stair rails. "In truth, I've always wanted to do this." She let her hands slip and slid herself down the smooth banister. Unfortunately she did not expect the ride to be over so soon as she ended up sliding off the railings and right into the door.

"OUCH!"

--

Fuji waited patiently outside, checking his watch before-

**-BANG-**

"OUCH!"

He sweat-dropped.

--

The door opened.

"Hey, Fuji." Taiya opened the door, rubbing her back, only to reveal a confused Fuji from behind.

"Uh, Taiya, are you alright; I heard a loud 'BANG' sound so-"

"Oh, yeah, that. Never mind," she said, snapping out of her thoughts and now rubbing her forehead with one hand while holding the door open with another. "Come in; sorry, I really lost track of time." She noticed that he was cladded in a nice button-up shirt and smart jeans, along with what appeared to be a casual brown wrist-watch. A long and pale beige jacket was worn over the top. _'Damn he looks good even with casual clothing!'_

She cursed; she did _not _just say Fuji looked good.

"I'll be down in a minute, so-"

"Taiya, remember what I said," Fuji said jovially. Taiya's eye gave a very annoyed twitch. "I will, thanks," she said through gritted teeth. "I'm doing this for my reputation, I'm doing this for my reputation..." she repeated to herself in an undertone before running upstairs three at a time.

A few minutes later, Fuji looked towards the staircase where the sounds of foot steps were descending from. "You done?"

"Yup," she called down dully, a hint of displeasure heard in her voice.

Fuji's everlasting smile just got wider.

Taiya…

Was. Wearing. Girly. Clothing.

And the most surprising (horrifying) thing was that Taiya...was wearing a faded, white denim _skirt _that was around 2 inches above her knees. A _SKIRT_!!

"I hope you're happy, Fuji, you trampled over my pride with surprising force," she said, scowling, tightly clutching the handle of a black, suede handbag in her right hand.

"What? Your pride as a man?"

"YOU'RE SO FULL OF IT!!!"

Fuji laughed while Taiya fumed. Although he absolutely _loved _teasing her, he had to admit, she really did look a lot more her gender, what, with the long-sleeved pink top which went down past her hips, including a quick row of cotton buttons running diagonally along the clothing to hold it together. He stood up and slipped on his sneakers just as Taiya slipped on her own black Converse 'over-ankle Converse Chucktaylors'; a good and fashionable product, said Aiki, which was worn by many teenagers back in the days.

He opened the door. "_Ladies _first," he said, smirking. She shot him a quick glare before stepping out, muttering a 'thanks' on her way out.

Then she felt Fuji close the door behind him while resting a warm hand on her shoulder. "Don't be so stiff; you look nice."

Instead of melting into a puddle of good like most fan-girls would (or quickly grabbing his hand and flipping him over her shoulder, right before annihilating him then and there), Taiya gave a grave smile. "Thanks, Fuji- my mum picked out the clothes for me." And with that she marched off. Fuji stared after her before grinning to himself.

Best plan ever.

----

Although she didn't want to admit it (because Fuji might end up mocking her for the rest of her miserable life), Taiya knew she was half-assedly enjoying herself. She liked being showed the different shops. She liked exploring places she never really had the chance to explore, not having any girlfriends to go to the malls with, and she liked spending time with a- though a little sadistic and ultra weird- friend, something she didn't get to do very often with her limited friends in China.

"Ooh- let's check out that store!" To Fuji's convenience, Taiya _did _act like a normal girl; she was interested in shopping.

But not clothes.

Cos-play(and some real) weapons. Books. DVD's. Grip-tape. Sport gear. Weapons. Soft-toys. CD's. Cartoons. _Weapons._

We get the point.

Fuji could only watch over Taiya as she examined all the items inside a shop with slight fascination and awe while he stood beside her and stared at things with her, occasionally translating some unknown (to her) Japanese on labels etc.

"I recommend this book- it's very good," said Fuji, picking up two books which were basically the same, though one was Japanese translated and the other English. It was entitled 'The Little Prince' by some guy whose name Taiya could not make out in English. "It's very, let's say, interesting."

"Are you sure?," asked Taiya, staring at him quiziccaly; Fuji always had this weird taste with, well, anything he ends up having. Like those cacti in his room. Taiya stared at the books in his hands with a slight frown before finally deciding on the English one. "I really need to improve my English," she commented, before paying for it at the counter.

It was also then that Fuji had remembered that he was to help tutor Taiya in her English, much to her distaste.

"What, being your next door neighbour, class-mate, and team-mate not enough for ya- fine, I'll grace you with my presence, your majesty," she muttered sarcastically. Hearing him making no comment, she rounded on him and exclaimed, "Why?!"

Fuji turned and almost rose an eyebrow at how…strange it was to hear her normal voice and see her with long hair and…all the other girly aspects. "I actually planned this beforehand- your mother asked me to a while ago, seeing how your English grades are- in the least offensive way- atrocious."

Taiya sighed tiredly. It was true. She might excel in mathematics and sports, but she totally slumped in literature and English. The 45 percent she got on her English test and the C+ mark she received for that essay on the World Wars she had to do in Japanese nearly caused her mother- no, it _did _cause her mother- to scream at her and how she lacked proper discipline. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing with Fuji the Tensai to tutor her…

"Saa, Taiya-chan." She turned and saw Fuji holding a smooth and slender hand towards her, much unlike her own rough and worn hands. "Let's continue with the date, ne?"

Obediently, she obliged.

----

Fuji had taken Taiya to none other than the Kawamura sushi house for lunch, as both were granted a light breakfast in the morning.

"Ah, Fuji! And _Taiya_-san too!" Taka-san greeted the two of them warmly, dressed in the traditional sushi-chef uniform as he stood behind the counter preparing, well, sushi.

"Taka-san lookin' pro!," she laughed, while Taka-san blushed lightly.

"Fuji, I guess you and Taiya-san are here to see the festival too? Although it's a little early..." Taka-san trailed off.

Fuji positively beamed, much to Taiya's confusion. "Yes, the festival. And," he took hold of Taiya's hand and pretended to look like a loving couple (except Taiya ruined it when her face resembled much like a ravenous wolf-demon when looking at their linked hands). "We're on a date!"

"Really? Taiya-san, you must be someone special for Fuji to ask out," Taka-san joked, laughing, as he finished a tray of sushi in what seemed to be 6 seconds flat. Taiya only held up a hand, her head resting on her other palm in a bored manner.

"Oh _please_, this is just a plan," she said, rolling her eyes. Taka-san blinked.

"Plan?"

"Yeah." Taiya leaned forward and told Taka-san in a monotone of everything that had happened the last week and a half. If this was Eiji or Momoshiro, and even possibly Ryoma, there might have been a great bout of laughter of this. But since this is Taka-san in his polite, timid and shy mode, he only gave a _small _chuckle.

"I heard about those around the school; it must have caused you two a lot of trouble, right?," he said. Taiya shot Fuji, who was ordering the meals for them, a nasty look.

"I'm not sure about _him_, but yeah, I suffered a lot. Damn, those fan-girls are like the paparazzi," sighed Taiya, lifting her head from her palm, elbow on the table. "I mean, if I didn't out-run them, they would have known where me and Fuji lived."

Fuji gave his serene smile. "Guess you owe Inui one, ne, Taiya?," he said, taking a sip from his cup of green tea. Taiya shrugged.

"I guess my stamina has increased by a fair bit..." They sat in comfortable silence in the crowded but cozy sushi shop.

-strike!-

There it goes again; Taiya's feminine- yes, _feminine _senses...she sensed there was someone watching here...again...

"Taiya." She glanced to her left and was eye-to­-eye with Fuji. "We're being followed."

Now she was surprised. So it _wasn't _just her imagination...

The two had stopped talking in attempt to hear some sort of sound or see some sort of sign to _who _it was, eh, stalking them. The distinctly heard the words "who", "why", "not fair", "talk", and, to their horror….

…the words "Fuji-sama".

"Fan-girls!," they both said in unison.

"God, what do we do? Do you think they heard our conversation? If they did, I could..." _'Get kicked out of the team, found out by the whole school and publicly humiliated.' _Taiya was anxiously tugging the ends of her pink shirt; the feeling of the soft fabric seemed to soothe her somewhat.

"Well," he took Taiya's hand again, giving her a reassuring smile, "We just have to act like a couple. If they ask us, we'll tell them a little lie. Knowing those fan-girls, as soon as they hear news, the word'll break out through the whole school that we _aren't_, well, homo's." -Smile smile-. Taiya hesitantly nodded, glancing back again, so perplexed about the whole situation she didn't even notice he was _touching her hand_.

"I guess….Lucky the hairdressers were out. If my hair was short, it'd be harder to pull off, I reckon." _'Wait…where the Hell IS that hair dresser?!'_

"Aa."

"Here's your order, Fuji-kun! Enjoy it with your girlfriend!," Taka-san's father boomed, placing a rather large bentou box with a large and colourful variety of sushi and other delicacies. Then Taiya noticed something.

"Ano, Fuji. Why is there only one box, although it is quite large?" She got the distinct impression she knew why though.

"Taiya, Taiya; remember, today we're _couples_," he grinned, and Taiya started to feel awkward.

"Ehh...this is only for today though."

"But we have to act like one more, right? So I thought sharing a nice bentou box with each other would seem nice, but I would warn you that I have no experience with this sort of thing," said Fuji, passing Taiya a pair of chopsticks. "You see, I have never gone out with a, um, girl before, besides my sister of course."

"Me neither," agreed Taiya, but she quickly fumed, "Wait, what was that hesitant tone you used when saying 'girl'?!"

Then something unexpected happened. No, Fuji did not laugh and mock her, because that was to be expected, but instead, Fuji did something just utterly, _utterly _scary.

"Taiya, here; say 'ahh'!" Taiya turned to see Fuji smiling, although she sensed that rather cunning aura inside of him as he held a slice of sushi with his chopsticks in the air.

"What?"

"Come, Taiya! Eat! We're on a date now, so be nice," Fuji added when Taiya looked like she was raising a fist. She let her arm drop to the side before saying helplessly, "You can't be serious."

"It's not that bad. It's not like I'm asking you to eat spaghetti mouth-to-mouth-"

"Alright, alright! I get it!," she surrendered, holding up her arms in defeat; she didn't even want to here the end of that sentence. She opened her eyes and grumpily opened her mouth, looking to the vacant space where Fuji _wasn't _seated at. Triumphant, Fuji placed the sushi in her mouth before holding his hand under her jaw and pushing it up.

"Yes, Taiya; you chew now...let all the saliva mix well with the food and then you do this thing where you swallow-"

Taiya's wooden chopstick snapped easily in her hands as an irritation mark formed on her temple. Fuji only kept his clown-like smile on his face as he continued to feed her slowly. Taiya was lost when it came to why he found this enjoyable. _'I mean, isn't HE hungry? I don't get the joys of relationships like this, nor the fantasies of guys.'_ Then she heard a click as she was chewing. She rotated around only to see a black camera lens staring back at her.

-snap-

"Kawaii. That expression is a rare one which actually shows a bubbly little girl ," he teased, showing her a picture of her stunned face, her cheeks blown up as it was crammed with food that he himself had kept feeding her. _'I swear, Fuji, after this...you're so gonna pay.'_

"And that expression is worthy of putting in a Ju-On (The Ring; a movie) picture book," she heard Fuji say again. She realized she had been glaring at him darkly for a while now, and turned away with an 'hmph' as she drank her tea again.

Fuji glanced at Taiya through the corner of his eyes and gave a small giggle. Yes, _giggle_. She was just so...weird. It has only been 3 months since their first meeting, but she was already growing on him…well, not really, because she was very short, but you get the point. _'Although the different cultural traits we share,' _Fuji thought, stowing away his camera into his pocket. _'This term has been very...interesting.'_

He held up his chopsticks to her mouth again, and she absent-mindedly took the sushi, only to chew and have a look on her face crossed between astonishment and being dumbstruck.

"This nostalgic burning sensation..." She turned robot-styled towards Fuji with a pained smile on her face; she looked rather fevered. "Wa...sa...bi...sushi?" Fuji's smile confirmed everything. She immediately grabbed her tea and gulped it easily, asking Taka-san if he changed the brand of wasabi he used because it was _so _much spicier than the last time she ate it.

Sanzushi Taiya was interesting...

...Plus, she was fun to tease.

----

An hour passed, and thus, they finished lunch.

"God, Fuji, you don't have to be all _weird _and all; we're friends only _acting _for the sake of our _reputation,_ so-" She was once again cut off by Fuji, who flashed her an ever-so-charming smile.

"Taiya, we must make it look as realistic as possible! And anyways, I always treat you nice."

"That sounded almost sarcastic."

"Ah, let's go," Fuji said. "Ja ne, Taka-san!"

They bid farewell to their school team-mate. "Come on! There's still plenty of things to do before the festival starts!" said Fuji And with that, they ended up rounding a corner with Fuji dragging her around the town, Taiya being helpless.

"What-"

"Let's go take a walk; the weather is really nice out today!"

Was it just her, Taiya thought, or was Fuji disregarding her questions a little too frequently...?

Shrugging, Taiya allowed herself to follow the footsteps of Fuji, scanning around every once in a while. It felt almost different to be walking around these streets as Taiya had rarely gone out, except to and fro from school, to go to the local tennis courts or to re-stock on some items and groceries. But she hardly ever had the time nor patience to carefully observe her surroundings. Now when she observed around, she had to keep reminding herself that _this _was Japan, not China any longer.

It was then that she started to feel vaguely homesick. Although her new home was right here instead of at her Uncles large flat, all her childhood friends, her achievements and most probably most of her memories had resided within that over-populated country. Her steps faltered, and her head was bowed as she reminisced about her true life in China. It was only the first term of the school year, with one final tournament before the holidays, and many tournaments awaiting afterwards.

The Nationals seemed rather distant to her...too far to reach...

"You alright?"

"Uh-" She stared up into the surprisingly concerned face of her fellow peer...A.K.A. Fuji Syusuke. She pasted on a reassuring grin with much difficulty; it was as though her muscles had forgotten how to smile. "Un...I'm fine," she said, speaking through her abnormally dry throat. "Let's go then, Fuji-kun." She started to walk away, only to have Fuji (or, at least she thought it was Fuji) grab her wrist and pull her towards another direction, causing her to stagger.

"E-eh, Fuji ! What are you doing?!," she said in a high voice, only to have Fuji's eyes not meeting hers. Moments later, he had plopped her down onto a hard, wooden bench near a local park. Only then did Taiya catch the glimpse of him smiling again; the expression he donned before was, if she remembered correctly, was almost….unusual and scary…

Taiya didn't have long to think about it as Fuji had already stood up. His mesmerizing smile totally caught her off guard like that shoe which had once been thrown at her head. "I'll go treat us to some drinks, shall I? Wait here-"

And he jogged off -.-".

"Dude...Fuji, you kinda ditched me with..." Taiya pulled a rather tortured expression as she felt a presence looming nearer to her destination. _'Fan-girls!! Fan-girls!! FUJI!! YOU IDIOT!!'_

"Ano, you there."

Taiya smiled politely at the 4 girls in front of her. "Yes?"

"Who are you? We saw you hanging around Fuji-kun, or was that just...chance?," the girl, who looked no older than Taiya herself, said, although a warning tone was hidden beneath her 'polite' greeting. That annoyed Taiya. _'Remember, Taiya, manners, manners, keep my temper…'_

"Sorry, but, you see, I don't really want to confide my relationship with Fuji- Fuji-_kun ­_to people I have just met, unless they are friends of his. Are you good friends or his, or blood-related anyhow?," replied Taiya smoothly. _'I can't say something stupid, or they might not be convinced that I'm going out with Fuji, thus, I'm gonna have the reputation as a gay tennis player for a while.'_

"Just answer Misano-san already," another girl voiced rather rudely, "You know, we don't have all day."

_'You seemed to be following me and Fuji for a verrrry long time, I must say, so I know you're lying, you S.O.B.' _"Sumimasen (excuse me), but who are you, may I ask again?," said Taiya in a tone of forced politeness, the twitching of her eye not meeting the 'kindness' of her plastered smile.

"It doesn't concern you," the so-called Misano said. _'Bingo! Broke out of your 'nice and polite' shell!' _"Just answer our questions; why are you hanging around Fuji-kun?"

"If who you are doesn't concern me, then neither does my identity nor relationship with Fuji-kun concerns you," said Taiya. _'Japan sure has some bitchy girls I must say. I don't feel comfortable with this.' _She rose half-way out of her seat to leave. "So, if you'll excuse me-"

Then two of the 'posse' had rested their hands firmly over her shoulder. Taiya opened her mouth, but instead held her tongue and exhaled deeply, staring at them with a hard gaze. "Do you need something?" _'Okay, this is getting out of hand…Fuji, where are you…?'_

"It _does _concern us in a sense. You see, he's our senpai. We tried to be friendly, but seeing as you won't cooperate, we'll just tell you one thing; don't go clinging around him too much, because he doesn't have time for someone just like you," another girl said.

_'This is like off a manga or something, the whole hoodlum group of fan-girls corner the poor innocent _(innocent?) _girl before they unleash their incomprehensible fury upon her.' _She was impressed they had the courage to say those over-used lines (in manga, anyway).

"So, if we see you hanging around him again by yourself-"

"Taiya, who are these girls? Friends? Guests? Or tag-alongs?," a voice said. This earned a very placid silence along the group. Fuji's smooth and calm voice snapped Taiya out of her reverie, and she blinked.

_'Fuji?' _"Ahaha, no, they said they are friends of ours and they introduced themselves to me..." Taiya trailed off before shooting a glare at Fuji, unnoticed by him and the girls of course. "Fuji-kun, you ditched me," said Taiya in a sickly sweet voice, practically dripping with venom.

"Ah, I forgot; hai-" He handed Taiya a large paper cup with a plastic lid and a straw in it. "What's this?," she said in her usual laid-back attitude. But catching Fuji's eye, she said, "I mean- may I ask what this is, Fuji-kun?" She felt like puking. Fuji smiled.

"Thick-shakes. I thought you'd like chocolate; it's nice."

"Oh."

Only then did one of the girls speak up from her place. "Ano, Fuji-kun!" Fuji turned at the mention of his name. "Who is _this _girl?!," she asked in a shrilly voice, and he rest of her friends, Misano included, nodded their heads. His smile faltered only very slightly before it went back to its normal gesture.

"This is Taiya-chan."

"What is she, well, doing with...you?," Misano said slowly, her personality turning 180 degrees while talking with this prince-like character.

"We're on a date." Taiya could feel the muscle in her eye twitching, but she excused it. She was a nice person after all...yes...nice.

The group of girls seemed to look like they were having a seizure; they couldn't believe their prince just said that. "D-d-DE-TO?! Nande (why)?!"

_'Come on, Fuji. We never did discuss what you were going to say once approached. Heck, I'll leave it up to you-'_

Fuji blinked, as though confused.

"What do you mean- she's my girlfriend."

Taiya's heart-beat stopped.

----

**A/N** – How was this chapter? A bit more _romantic, _but it's a very rare opportunity ahaha. Review, yeahs? Thanks a lot!

P.S. Have all of you peoples who read Himitsu read First Valentines? It's related to Himitsu with Taiya experiencing her first Valentines Day in Japan, and as a guy. Yes. A guy. If you want some mild randomness, you can go read that…even though it's not that good. Ja ne!


	4. Tension

"Okay! 10 minute break!"

"Yes, buchou (captain)!"

All the Regulars were stunned at the patched-up appearance of their youngest player, Echizen Ryoma, what, with the bandages and gauze on his face and all. This was undoubtedly caused by none other than Yamabuki's Akutsu Jin, another violent third year player like herself. Except much stronger. Some of the Regulars crowded around the boy after they ran their laps, questioning him without mercy.

"You should report this, you know?!"

"Yes, I agree with Momo; Echizen, you really have to look after yourself," stated Oishi, frowning in concern. The atmosphere was tense as Taiya mulled over their words; a talented player such as Ryoma being injured would definitely bring down the success rate. So…

"I know! I'll find that Akutsu guy….and talk to him one-on-one," Taiya finished in a low growl, a sinister smile on her face. Oishi shook his head.

"You shouldn't- we don't need to cause a commotion-"

"It was that guy who caused the commotion!" argued Momoshiro. Fuji also frowned, but added his own comment.

"We'll just have to tell them to not let Akutsu into the school grounds; it'd be bad if we had anymore injured players." Fuji's gaze glanced quickly towards Taiya, and she immediately knew he was referring this particularly to her. Taiya huffed indignantly; she knew she was reckless, but he didn't have to specially warn her or something."Don't worry, I won't do anything rash," spoke up Taiya loudly from her place, her voice coated in a honeyed tone- her _manly _tone. "But Echizen-kun is a team-mate- it would be weird if I didn't feel annoyed by the incident."

She smiled and patted Echizen on the head fondly, while he winced slightly, an annoyed look on his face."You're lucky you're a girl-"

She shot him a look that practically spat _'what did you say?!'_, and he looked away, embarrassed, and the rest of them chuckled.

The day had progressed well enough- which surprised Taiya the utmost- with no sign of anything _leaking out_ (if you get my drift). Soon, all those in the tennis team had retreated to the change rooms, with Taiya offering to pack up (which she did immensely slowly), and they all had gone to their classes. Before Taiya knew it, she was already dismissed from her mathematics class, which was a real shame, as she was enjoying that moment's bliss talking to classmates other than Eiji and Fuji.

Fuji.

The name itself made her blood boil. It'd be devastating if his face popped into her line of vision that week…she wonders what she would do….

"Tai."

"GAH-!"

She almost tripped over her chair as she found him in front of her face, with a cunning Eiji by his side. With a hand held over the breast pocket of her white shirt, she only stared at him with a stunned expression.

It seems her anger couldn't be expressed in actions or words.

Fuji and Taiya soon found themselves with Eiji's arms draped across their shoulders as he led them outside the classroom. "So, my dear friends…did something happen between you two? You're acting awfully suspicious."

"Well, you see-"

"It's nothing!" Taiya interjected sharply, giving Fuji a firm gaze. "Right, Fuji?" Although his face showed mild surprise, he only nimbly nodded.

Eiji's smile dropped the slightest bit.

"Okay…"

----

It was the 3 days before the matches, their 3rd tournament. Tezuka had given no special treatment to Taiya and treated her like the rest of the Regulars. Oishi only frowned but agreed in the end after Taiya insisted it was her own fault and desire to be in the boys tennis team.

"I'm the idiot who took the love of tennis too far," she assured, although she had a slightly weary face on, "I'll handle it. Nothing will stop me!" She paused. "Except my mum," she corrected in an undertone. _'And that reminds me…I gotta get back home right after practice…' _

And their school didn't finish until 5:30pm.

Eiji and Oishi were teaching an interested Taiya in the tactics of Doubles play, as she never really played doubles before. Momoshiro was arguing with Kaidoh as usual, before Kaidoh stalked off to do some training himself, with the help of Inui at his aid, perfecting his Snake and Boomerang shots. Soon, Ryoma and Taiya joined them soon as well.

"Hey, Echizen-kun." Ryoma turned and stared at his cross-dressing upperclassmen.

"What?"

"Well…." Taiya drawled, causing his expression to cringe in annoyance. "Your dad is…eh, Echizen Nanjirou, right?" He paused for a split second, before continuing without comment. Taiya shrugged before following after the younger boy, cursing the weathers' heat. _'Geez, don't have to be so mean. It's just that I…remember Ryuzaki-sensei and Nanjirou-san being connected with our family somehow...' _Taiya's face creased into a frown, _'Hmmms, although I guess it can't be too much of a coincidence. I better ask mum or sensei later. Curiosity really buggers me.' _

"Sanzushi," Inui called out to her. She approached him and her smile had a nervous edge to it. "It's about my stamina training…right?"

Inui's glasses flashed. "Yes." She mentally slapped herself around her face.

"Are you changing the weights again?" she asked tiredly, plopping onto the fake grass court. Inui shook his head.

"5 kilo's shall be fine. Over time, I shall increase it by another kilo, but seeing your progress right now…" Inui trailed off and Taiya flushed, looking away. She hadn't been doing to well with keeping up at everything; her mum also wanted her to put in some extra hours studying instead of playing tennis and shaping up. "I, I'll see what I can do. I'll train harder after school and stuff…"

While Inui continued his speech with Taiya, and Ryoma was with Kaidoh and Inui training, Eiji sat on the bench with Oishi after their practice on doubles formations.

"Our hand sign play is getting better," Oishi commented, taking a drink from his water bottle.

Eiji nodded happily. "Un! We have to give it all we've got, Oishi!" Oishi smiled but it was quickly replaced by a look of concern when he glanced over to Taiya's distressed expression, nodding every once in a while in apology.

"Yes, but what about Tai-san?" he commented in an undertone, making sure nobody was overhearing their conversation. "In situations like this, it'll be strenuous for a female to participate. Also, she seems to be struggling (suffering) a lot more than usual in practices…"

Eiji had to agree, but said, "But this is Tai-chan we're talking about. She's kept up 'til now! That's some pretty good determination she has there, nya." But Oishi gave him a look that told him to be more serious about the situation.

"Yes, but…there was probably more than just the heat on that day to make her collapse…"

----

"Sanzushi-senpai."

Taiya turned to see Ryoma, who tilted his hat at her. "How do you know my oyaji (old man)?" Taiya blinked before shrugging.

"I dunno! Why you asking me! I just remember Ryuzaki-sensei and an Echizen," she said rather pathetically, shrugging in an overdramatic way.

Ryoma had an expression that read he was not at all inspired by this particular senpai at all. "Che…"

And he just walked away.

"I wonder how he learnt to be so rude without me," she said, pursing her lips and nodding her head in his direction. Suddenly, Fuji had caught up with her…much to her demise.

"Fuji…I kinda….don't wanna…._look _at you right now," she said rather bluntly, as though not sure of how to word out her emotions.

"I think I already got that impression when you looked demon-like again when I approached you," Fuji chuckled nervously, keeping up with her pace quite easily. They walked in silence all the way back to their own family residence. Right when Taiya was going to step past the gates of her home, Fuji called out, "Hey, Taiya."

She paused, but didn't turn around. "Yeah…?"

He had a rather expressionless face; that mask one that he always wore from the time she met him. "On Saturday-" Taiya made a rather loud lurching sound, but Fuji dismissed it; he was already used to her overdramatic reactions. "Yes, well, the rumours of us being, well, _'gay' _have practically dissipated; I thought I should just reassure you." Fuji was confused though as Taiya whipped around, ripping the beanie off her head (which caused quite a lot of questioning from peers and staff at the school) and letting her hair fall messily back to its natural length. She pointed at it sharply.

"Fuji, I, despite my looks and acts, am a girl," she started, "Those rumours…were…annoying. After a while, it didn't matter that much anymore because I know it's just all these tall tales made from overly hyped-up fan girls who wished they say some bishounen romance or something. But having rumours about yourself when you get rather known, no matter how much you don't want to be known, gets really irritating because so many question you, badger you, and absolutely ruin my head for studies!" She took a shaky breath before trying to calm herself down, running her fingers through her tousled hair. "But…."

Her expression changed 180. "BUT NOW I, SANSUZHI TAIYA, AM KNOWN AS _THE _FUJI SYUSUKE'S DEMON PARTNER!!"

Fuji took a step back; girls were weird…and overly emotional. And he was surprised she knew how to describe her feelings _so _well, especially on the context of demons. But he regained his composure smoothly. "It's called a girlfriend, Taiya. And we can either be known as homosexuals which, by the way, I don't mind, _or _we can just pretend and go along with the plan. Either way, it depends on you and your mental endurance."

"Well Fuji, just for your information, my mental endurance is pretty low, seeing as I never really put up with this sort of stuff in China."

"It's not that bad is it, with me, I mean?," asked Fuji, his eyes opening to show that beautiful sheen of blue. Taiya ended up raising an eyebrow; _what the Heck was he on about now_?

"Which answer do you want to hear, the truth, or what _you _want to hear?" Taiya said, drawing loops in the air with her finger. Fuji mentally slapped himself on the forehead- so far, only Taiya had the power to make him do so.

"Truth. _Shinjitsu._" Taiya contemplated for a while, and it was difficult to read her expression. What she said next was something he and herself had totally not expected.

"You and I argue too much- maybe Eiji would have been a better choice."

----

'_Why…did I say that…?' _She stole a surreptitious glance towards her red-head team mate and all of a sudden felt awkward. She covered her head with her arms as she inwardly squealed in dismay. _'Gahhh! Now I'm thinking weird things! But yeah, all I meant was that Eiji would have made everything a lot more natural since he's so hyperactive and naturally outgoing! Fuji, dude, you and I get along, and yet enjoy provoking each other too much! Well, we enjoy provoking Eiji too, but it's usually just….Ah! __天啊__(heavens)! I'm not sure anymore…I just created another sticky, misleading concept again…'_

"…And class will have to finish this science practical report by tomorrow; no excuses." Many people groaned, including Taiya; they already had lots of homework stacking up, and especially her, who had secretly gone to train more over at the tennis parks. _'Guess I'll just have to quickly finish all my homework in one shot tonight. That'll leave me with 2 days to train.'_

The school bell sounded off loudly, and almost immediately, people had got out form their seats and headed outside. With the sky appearing a reddish-pink hue due to the sun set, people hastily made it home, while others stayed together in huddles for plans after the night.

Fuji had already left earlier, probably already knowing that with her, it would be uncomfortable and awkward, even with Eiji hanging around. But she was grateful he had put some thought into her feelings, and knew her well enough to understand her, well short-tempered-ness.

Playing around with her phone as she walked through the night-fallen streets, she inhaled a breath of fresh air.She agreed that she has been a little selfish and reckless lately, especially with the rumours flying around, and maybe- just maybe- had treated Fuji a little too unkindly. He was, afterall, one of her closest friends in the vicinity along with Eiji, and he was a very nice person above all the strange sadism and provocation. But did he really have to say something that made her feel so uncomfortable now…

"Hey."

Taiya turned…and saw the guy she had beaten weeks ago when walking with Fuji. Fushiki…or something of the sort. Was it that?

"Bad hair..." The guy grew and anger mark. "…Bad complexion…." Another one formed. "…And…are you crap at tennis?" she candidly said.

"NO! I'M GREAT AT TENNIS!!" he shouted rather furiously. Taiya shrugged, turning away.

"In that case, you can't be that Fushiki guy-"

"I _am _Fushiki!!"

_Now _Taiya was confused. Turning back with her forehead wrinkled in thought, she said, "But I thought Fushiki lost against me- I mean, my sister-"

"Cut the crap; I overheard everything."

Taiya froze.

"So you, the girl that one day, is…the increasingly well-known Sanzushi Taichi of Seigaku."

----

A/N – I'm sorry it's so….lame. But I had to make some sort of…plot-related thing happen! It reminds me of filler eps sometimes…heh. Well, uh, Yamabuki matches soon. I promise to make them less draggy like months before in Himitsu. Oh my dear lord that was…horrid.

Well, signing off.

Updated: 13th/5/07


	5. 仲間 Comrades: Friends

Chapter 5

----

"Tai. Tai…?"

No response.

"Tai-!"

Taiya's head jolted up unexpectedly and she blinked, scanning around the room with hastily focused eyes. "Huh?! What happened? Is lunch over already?!"

Eiji shook his head, bemused. "No, no. It's just that Tai-chan doesn't seem to be…responding very fast," he said slowly, as though speaking with his usual velocity just might explode Taiya's poor head. "And speaking of which, you should really cut your hair and throw away those beanies; it really draws attention to you…I mean, 3 months, geez." Eiji had a point there.

"I would if I could, Eiji…but I got some more pressing matters to solve," said Taiya.

"Like what?" chorused Eiji and Fuji, who were sitting on her table in front of her.

"Nothing," she muttered.

'_Stupid Fushiki….guy….who lost to me…big pain in the ass…' _Taiya thought.

But she was a nervous wreck. The other day, their conversation ended when Aiki ushered Taiya to come home, letting Fushiki, an ex-Fudomine Junior High student, walk away with a smirk playing on his face. _'That- that damn __坏蛋__(bad thing/bastard)! I should have kicked his ass that day and never let him go…' _Oh, the possibilities, she inwardly cried. An unbelievable amount of questions soared through her head, which disabled her usual thinking ability in class.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong? You look…pale," Fuji commented, with a hint of concern in his voice. Eiji had the same facial expression. Taiya merely shook her head; she relied on people too much lately, or more than usual, and it was becoming a problem, she figured. Becoming one of _those _girls wasn't on her priority list.

She was trying, like she had vowed, to pick up the pace and evenly match up to the rest of the Seigaku Regulars; who knew when there was another tournament to decide who's on the team. Inui would thrash her, that's for sure, and there's no such luck that she would coincidently beat someone like Taka-san again. She understood that boys were faster at improving their fitness levels, and even noticed Fuji getting unbelievably powerful when at a match. Nobody wants to lose their spot on the Regulars. Taiya definitely didn't want to be off the Regulars.

But she'd have to deal with Fushiki first, or…not even the ranking matches would help her back on.

----

Taiya was heading off to the local tennis courts to do some training, as she had successfully persuaded her mother to allow her to go- owing much to her now-persuasive tongue. Why else would she be in Japan and not in China studying her ass off?

With her navy-blue tennis bag slung over one shoulder, she walked down and set her bag down. There were a few people over at some of the other courts for playing matches, but she walked past them until she reached the court with the ball machine, which feeds the tennis balls through a tube…after putting in a couple of yen or two.

She stood at the baseline, ready to receive.

A ball shot out. She pulled her racquet back to return it, and did so successfully.

"Can't…lose…to…other people!" she gasped before hitting what seemed to be the last ball back to the far corner of the court with pinpoint precision acquired after years of training. "Yes!" She smiled in triumph that her ability had grown; the last times she tried with Fuji, she couldn't keep up with the speed, nor hit it as accurately as she wished. Fuji had managed to embarrass the hell out of her by doing perfectly while barely breaking a sweat. She pushed away her long fringe from her eyes, silently cursing herself. _'Why was I stupid enough to let myself be all dramatic and let my hair down. I should shave my friggin' head….'_

"I thought you'd be here."

She stopped in mid-action before turning her head. She then greeting the newcomer with a faint smile. "Oishi…"

The vice-captain of the Seigaku tennis team seated himself down next to her on the bench. "Fuji told me that you go here whenever you're a little distracted. I told him I'd come talk to you and that he should stay home since you guys don't seem to have the best of atmosphere around you as of now," said Oishi with a chuckle, and Taiya broke out a faint and embarrassed laugh. But then Oishi's face took on a more serious look.

"Taiya-san, are there any problems or complications which are disturbing you lately?" he asked. Taiya shook her head no. Oishi raised an eyebrow, as though to say 'really?', "Are you sure?"

Taiya felt herself softly bite her bottom lip as she nodded once again. "There's really nothing that bad," she said, "I just haven't been concentrating very well, and with studies poppin' up everywhere…I get distracted." One can decide whether this is a lie or not.

She was, in fact, managing her studies with surprising responsibility, with only her English and literature bringing her down. Oishi nodded slowly.

"If you insist so, I won't force you to say anything that makes you uncomfortable, Taiya-san."

'_That's not it, Oishi…' _Taiya thought.

"But if you need any help, I'm sure Eiji or Fuji'll help."

'_I know they will, and that's why…'_

"Though if you need to speak with someone different, you can come and talk to me."

'_I don't want to distract you…'_

Taiya smiled gratefully, tipping her navy-blue cap towards him. "It's alright, Oishi- or Oishi-san," she smiled feebly, "You guys should just concentrate on the matches. I'll be doing the same."

Oishi smiled understandingly. "Okay then. Well," he sat up from the bench, giving himself a stretch, "I have to go and pick up my little sister from her friends place. But remember, Taiya-san." He held out a hand, as though they were two strangers who had just met. "If you need a hand, just tell us; people- I won't say who- but people _do _get worried over you, you know? You are a new addition to our team, and you have fit in with everyone just fine. I'm sure even Echizen would find himself concerned if you were in a real depressed state."

"I doubt it," Taiya mumbled as she shook his hand, and Oishi laughed. He then gave a small salute.

"See ya, Taiya-san."

"Please, call me just Taiya!," she called out to him as he jogged off, and the wave of his hand indicated that he understood.

Her face then broke into a wide smile as she laughed to herself.

"Japan surely does have some nice people…"

----

She arrived home…

…only to find Fuji in her kitchen.

"Eh-!" She didn't know what to say, and her arm had taken it upon itself to make her look like an utter retard when it raise itself and used her fingers to point shakily at the light-brown haired boy at the kitchen table, apparently in a conversation with her mum. It seems her mouth wanted to embarrass her too, seeing as she couldn't say anything coherent neither. "Wha-a- fff-ji- w-why-!..." She then gripped the sides of her head before shouting, "妈!! WHY IS FUJI IN OUR HOUSE?!?!" in fluent Chinese.

But then Taiya knew she did something out of line as Aiki's eyes practically glinted with danger before she said in a dangerously sweet voice, "因为他是我们的邻居和你的美丽的朋友! (because he is our neighbour and your beautiful friend!)"

Taiya choked when she heard her mother even agree that Fuji was a pretty-boy, but she regained her composture quickly. "Sorry Fuji," she said in Japanese again, "I just got a little startled." Aiki smiled in satisfaction.

"That's better- learn your manners, 星花-"

"Nooo! Please do not speak my Chinese name again, you heartless, unable-to-think-of-a-good-name-for-your-second-child mother!" cried Taiya, running away upstairs.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY-"

"Let's go to my room for a second, shall we Fuji?" Taiya said rather hurriedly, running back down the stairs before dragging Fuji upstairs, shouting what sounded like 'la la la la la' to block out the sound of her mothers voice.

Fuji only realized this was the first time he had been in her room, and was quite surprised to see it rather...messy. Usually she was a very tidy person. "Something...distracting you, right, Taiya?" he said slowly, taking note of the clothes scattered around the room in various places, and the undone bed in the corner, the sheets portraying a rolled up bunch of cloth. She picked up her clothes, stuffing them into a basket rather irritably, before saying, "So why are you here? Gonna take me to another infernal event?" she said. It was clear she didn't take too kindly with the way the 'date' had ended a few days ago. Well, he _had _just said she was his girlfriend (which was not true) and also put his arm around her waist to convince the fan girls even more (which worked spectacularly well). No news of Taiya (or shall we say Taichi) being a fag was mentioned again, yet Taiya still reacted like a ferociously tasered ferret whenever she thought of it.

Fuji frowned. "No, I'm not. Actually..." he paused, unsure how he should approach the topic. "Well, I just wanted to be here to help since you seemed really distracted nowadays."

Taiya froze.

She didn't know how to describe that growing feeling inside of her which makes her feel very...well, cared for. She never really took notice of how fortunate she was to be able to even speak to this prodigy of a human. Well, that is when she remembers he is a prodigy. All she did was gulp and say, "Thanks a lot for your concern, Fuji. But...I'm fine." Okay, maybe that was a lie. A sore loser of a pathetic man held her secret in his dirty hands and was most probably going to blackmail her for something in exchange for his silence. And once that secret gets out...

Humiliation!

Pride, trampled!

The fact she was a cross dresser!

...Oh, and of course she can't play tennis again.

Silence took it's toll in the room before Taiya went outside and threw her laundry into the washing machine, returning back looking much calmer than she was just seconds ago.

She broke the silence. "Sorry I'm always...like this, Fuji..." she murmured uncomfortably, shifting slightly. Fuji raised an eyebrow. Well this was a rare day. "I...have difficulty controlling my temper sometimes. But you're lucky," she said jokingly, smiling across at him from her chair, "'cause I usually keep my cool with people I know as strangers. I guess I just release all my anger a lot more 'cause..." Fuji waited for her to finish the sentence, though he already had a giddy feeling of what she was about to say. "...I guess I've become so much more comfortable and relaxed around you guys that I just loosen up." She looked up, and was stunned to see a understanding smile worn on Fuji's face.

"Apology accepted. But you need to let down your guard sometimes and let others help you-"

"Sorry to interrupt, Fuji, but I can't always have you guys watching out for me," she stated firmly, and he was taken aback by the seriousness in her eyes. "Just because I know you guys a little bit, it doesn't mean I want to take advantage of you guy's presence to benefit me. I don't want to be...dependent on people like a lot of girls are. It just doesn't seem right to me." She combed her fingers through her hair.

"You still keep your hair long?" It was more of a statement than a question, but Taiya nodded anyway.

"I was going to wait until the hairdresser came and helped me," Taiya said, her eyes lighting up all of a sudden, "but...thanks for reminding me, Fuji!" She jumped up and rummaged through her desk draws, trying to find something while talking to Fuji at the same time. "Fuji, sorry to be so rude, but you can leave if you want now- I need to take care of something." She finally emerged with two pairs of scissors in her hand. "Just head through the front door as you wish," she chided, before heading off towards the bathroom.

Fuji cocked an eyebrow, but followed.

Walking around the stair railings and down to the bathroom while also recognising several spare rooms along the way, Fuji stopped at the bathroom entrance, with the door ajar. "Taiya, are you doing what I think you're doin-"

He heard the quickly and familiar sound of two blades acting upon each other.

Sanzushi Taiya had just cut off her hair.

----

"Eh?" Taiya noticed Fuji standing at the doorway from the mirror. "Fuji, aren't you going home?" She spoke as though what she did was perfectly normal.

Oh yeah, a girl chopping off a good foot of hair was normal.

Though Fuji appeared to remain as his usual clown-like self, he was, in short, speechless. Stupefied. Of all girls...he had never seen one take something like tennis and cross-dressing _this _far!

But then again, he really didn't see many people cross-dress.

Then Fuji chuckled, not taking his eyes off her ludicrous action before side stepping locks of her black hair on the cool white-marble floor and retreating to a nearby seat- lucky the bathroom was big. "I'd rather watch this interesting turn of events. Took you some 3 months of thinking before you figured out this idea, huh, Taiya?"

"Tch, mocking me again..." she grumbled. Her hair was only neck-length now as she had bundled up her hair into what seemed to be a pony-tail before chopping the whole thing off with paper scissors. Her hair was uneven, some lengths of her hair much shorter than the rest, and now her hair was a thick, unattractive clump of hair on her head. "Now I gotta thin out everything...I guess I'll have to go for a messy style, ne, Fuji?" She grinned, picking up her thinning out scissors. She picked out random strips- sometimes clumps- of her hair before grabbing the jagged edged scissors and thinning it out way to the end several times until she was satisfied at it's length.

He slowly approached the humming Taiya, who was randomly thinning out large clumps of her hair now. He reached out a hand...

With her arms reached out behind her head to get the back layers, Taiya paused inher actions when she felt a smooth and warm hand gently pry the scissors from her hand. "Eh? 鬼神？ (Ghost?)" She saw Fuji's smiling face in the reflection of the mirror before he said, "Let me help you out there."

"Huh...?"

She was slowly steered to a small wooden stool before Fuji grabbed a towel hanging on the towel hooks. He draped it across her shoulders before flipping her hair, which was trapped underneath, up onto the towel. "Next time you do this, remember to place the towel here to prevent stray hairs from falling down your shirt and leaving a big mess." Taiya flushed and pouted. "Next..." Fuji scanned in the cupboards of her bathroom before spotting a small spray bottle. "Dampen your hair a little to give a cleaner finish."

She felt his hands playing with her hair before squirts of cold liquid impacted on her head, soaking through her thick hair. "And last; since you're Sanzushi Taiya, ask your good and handsome neighbour Fuji Syusuke to help you!" He gave a coy smile before toying with her hair again.

_'HANDSOME?! GOOD?!'_

"E-eh-ey!" Taiya spluttered. "Shouldn't you be at home doing some weird recreational activity of yours (sorting out blackmail, taking care of cacti etc) instead of wasting hours here? Go, shoo, who knows what'll happen-"

"Geez, Taiya, don't need to be so offensive," he replied, running the scissors through her hair and thinning them out. Strands upon strands of her hair fell to the floor below. "Anyway, we are constantly in the presence of each other, yet we don't actually talk as much as we'd like to." Taiya thought from day one to the present concerning memories involving Fuji, and realized...he was _right?! _

"We know plenty about each other, Fuji Syusuke," she said rather snobbily, sticking her nose in the air, resulting in a big mistake as the scissors had just poked sharply into her head. "OUCH!"

"Just stay still, you untamed creature," Fuji teased.

----

It was certainly weird. She thought the boy standing behind her right now was just a nerd that excelled in tennis and was a little (just a little) bit good-looking. Now she found out he was a freakin' hairstylist too!

"Um, Fuji, when did you learn to cut hair?" she asked.

"Never."

"..."

She prayed that she wouldn't come out bald. Strangely, part of her mind trusted Fuji. "Alright..."

"Tell me, Taiya," spoke Fuji in his soft voice, "Did..."

She waited for him to finish, only to end up stoned by the end of his sentence:

"...Did you gain weight?"

"What did you-" She had half-way risen from the seat, only to have Fuji's hands push her back down again. She was embarrassed and rather insulted- _did _she really gain weight? She wondered. But she _trained_! And she...she ran twice the amounts of laps he did! How...how could she have...!

Fuji's melodious laughter filled the bathroom. "I was just kidding!"

"..."

"Did you actually believe me?" urged Fuji, a wide and knowing smile on his face. "Oh, so Taiya-chan here is actually self-conscious. But don't worry- you are a bit too thin now, so stop thinking about it."

_'How'd he know I was thinking of it?'_

"N-no, I wasn't thinking about it!" she defended pathetically. But she could see through the mirror that he didn't believe it. At all. She looked to the side, avoiding even the mirrors reflection of his gaze. "Fine...only a little bit."

"Ahh..."

"You know," she suddenly spoke, her voice more casual like usual, "I...in China I mean...I wasn't...exactly...thin, so I got a bit worried there," she laughed sheepishly. His silence greeted her. What, was it _that _shocking? She was about to started accusing him of it, but he only replied, "My silence equals your continuation of your story."

What the Hell?!

Taiya sighed. "All I meant was...that I was not...thin like I hope I am now," she admitted, her head feeling lighter by the second as he continued snipping off her hair. "And also, I didn't have many friends..."

"I have a hunch about why."

"Yes, yes, we all know I'm a short-tempered bitch," she said rather snappishly, pulling a rather gloomy expression not soon after. "I miss my very few true friends in China...they had stuck with me from nearly the beginning."

"Are you implying that you...used to get rejected by a lot of students?" Fuji's voice floated to her ear. She cocked an eyebrow; where'd he pull_ that _conclusion from?! Sadly, it was almost spot on. She nodded.

"Yeahs."

Comfortable silence filled room, allowing Taiya to even forget about the incident with Fushiki as well; Fuji had that sort of effect on her. Built up stress was slowly slipping away form her like the strands of her hair, and she wondered why she ever used to always yell at Fuji. He was, of course, a really nice guy.

"Hey, Fuji..."

She suddenly saw from the corner of her eye, Fuji shaking his head in a way as though to rid an irksome thought. "Oh, sorry, I was too busy trying to imagine you being fat."

"..."

Fuji, you are really too blunt sometimes. -.-

----

They were all lined up for the matches, standing on the grounds where the tennis courts laid side by side, the rusting fences being its only safekeep. All of them were dressed in their Seigaku T-shirts and jerseys, their club bags slung over one shoulder. Taiya, for the first time since playing in Seigaku, felt the win pass through her short hair, barely ruffling it as the styling wax and hairspray took its toll.

"Let's go."

_'Damn...this haircut really draws attention, doesn't it?' _Taiya thought as Seigaku students all turned heads as she walked passed with the others. _'Got to treat it as though it's nothing. Must control temper and keep cool. And must find a way to stop Fushiki from spilling the secret.' _Thankfully, it didn't seem as though Fushiki had let slip any word of her, ahem, sex.

But yes, there was definitely an unnerving and genuine feeling Taiya usually felt whenever Fuji seemed to be thinking about something as he stared at her. The feeling of having eyes glued to you uplifted discomfort and unease within Taiya's body as she passed by the rusting wired fences and groups of students in a myriad of uniforms from different schools.

Fushiki was there in the stands, smirking at her. He mouthed something which she didn't make out. She only glared at him, turning away abruptly as she walked with the others.

"You ready, Tai?" The name, for the first time, made her cringe. She wondered if she would ever use it again in her life. A situation involving someone like Fushiki certainly snapped Taiya back into reality that she was not there to play around. That she was not there just to study.

That she was there to play tennis, and play it seriously.

"Aa."

-

-

"Taichi-senpai and Fuji-senpai-　かっこいい (kakkoii- so cool, hot, great etc)!!"

"Haha, and I thought we'd escape that if time allowed it," Fuji said to an red-faced Taiya.

----

A/N - Haha...kinda broke the serious moment there if it seemed serious.

Wells, apologies for my always late entries. Actually, my grades have been slipping, so I need to study a tad more. Oh, and also I had been in Malaysia for three weeks from the 17th June, so I only got back recently for school. Gomen to those who were waiting. I think you'll have to skim over the last few chaps or something to remember what the hell was happening. My bad!

I shall most probably continue this story until it's finished. But I don't think I'll be writing again for a long while in Not until I upgrade this terrible English of mine.

Ja ne. Ehh, any ideas to help me out? Ha...ha ha...


	6. Yamabuki

_'I'm at the semi-finals...'_

Eyes watched as another ball was hit over the net situated in the middle.

_'I got found out...'_

Members dressed in white and blue jerseys walked alongside each other down the path.

_'And yet I'm still here...'_

Taiya stopped as the other Seigaku members stopped, feeling oddly bound. Ever since she realised she was actually going to resume playing tennis just like she had proposed at the start of the year, the fun seemed to drain out of hanging around the guys lately. In the past, she joked around with Momoshiro, Eiji and Ryoma, argued with Fuji, sat and listened to all the observations made by Oishi and Inui, trained with Kaidoh and Kawamura, and just stood next to Tezuka observing game-play (there's not much he did, but it sure still looked cool). Now it seems as though she slacked off her own promise she made.

Taiya felt oddly guilty.

"Ah, here they come!" Karushi (Taiya's opponent from Fudomine) exclaimed in relief as he saw 4 other members of Fudomine arrive, breaking away from Taiya and his own conversation to talk to them with the others. It was going to be Fudomine's game soon. She might as well stay with the others and watch.

"Ah, Tai-san," said Oishi as she approached. He smield at her. "Feeling better?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she smiled back. She moved her hand up to pull her cap over her eyes, only to realise she wasn't wearing one at the time, not when her hair was all short and messed up. Dismissing it (and ignoring looks from certain girls and guys), she staretd focusing on watching the matches.

Matches went...very unexpectedly. For one...

Fudomine lost.

Terribly at that too.

"W-what?!" Taiya exclaimed in disbelief while Kawamura just stood solemnly beside her, a worried look on his face. _The _Fudomine which was new yet tough, one member even driving Taiya into frustration and desperation! The same one which made Kawamura, the tank, and Fuji, the genius, into a sticky situation! "_How?!" _

Standing with the other Regulars, she watched as Fudomine soon exited the courts as a group before being confronted by Akutsu. She watched with sharp eyes as a large smirk formed on his face, carelessly throwing what's most probably insults at the group.

Soon they saw Kamio, the red-headed player who was as hot-headed as Kaidoh, try lunge forward towards Akutsu. A fight seemed to be starting. Taiya tensed but she felt warning signals being thrown her way by Fuji. It wasn't something we could interfere with without any consequences- especially if she was involved.

All the Seigaku regulars walked forward at a calm pace as Fudomine had walked off, dismissing Akutsu's attempts to cause trouble. They all stationed in front of the Fudomine members, and Akutsu gave a displeased yet surprised sound at the sight of them from afar.

"Tezuka, I'm sorry, but it looks like it's the end for us," says Tachibana.

"Aa."

Taiya quickly grabbed Karushi's jersey sleeve before he left with the group. "Oi, what happened?" she asked in a hushed whisper. He gave a small smile.

"Kamio and the others had gotten in an accident earlier on while they were riding in a taxi. It seems it affected their play so..." A look of slight bitterness appeared on his face as he glanced at Akutsu, who was behind, before he gave a small bid of farewell. "Good luck."

Taiya let out a noise of disbelief before a lone clapping was heard.

"Welcome, Seigaku," Akutsu said with a rather sarcastic air to his greeting, his arms now held wide out together as though to welcome them warmly. Fuji was smiling very pleasantly as though Akutsu was Yuuta -.-. Eiji and Taiya had hardened eyes at the sight of this large and well-built teen.

"That moron..." Kaidoh said in a low voice.

"Doesn't he piss you off?" said Ryom casually. Momo nodded.

_'Yep.'_

----

"This is...bull crud," said Taiya in an extremely dissatisfied voice.

"It was quite funny anyway, Tai-senpai!" Momoshiro sniggered. Seigaku's first game with Ginka Junior High- the second game of the semi-finals- had been won by default as the other team..._forfeited._

"What kind of team gives up like that?! At least _try!_" Taiya fumed while Momoshiro laughed again heartily. "They even tried to sound like they were tough- 'let's go, Ginka!!'," she mimicked horribly before taking out her tennis racquet and bounced a ball up and down on the edge of the racquet, much like Ryoma did months before.

"Why the Hell are you scared of that team? There's nothing special about Seigaku."

Taiya tensed as she heard this insult once again pass through Akutsu's mouth. _'What a smart remark made by someone who's going to get beaten.' _"That guy's got a mouth," commented Eiji with a small smile on his face, arms crossed. Kaidoh gave his signature hiss in agreement. Momoshiro, however, clenched his fist.

"Who the Hell does he think he is? That bastard!" He made a strong motion to run up there and most certainly start a fist-fight. Taiya and Oishi quickly reacted and grabbed his jersey, restraining him.

"Momo, stop it!" Oishi warned.

"I understand your..._feelings of hate_, Momo-kun," Taiya said through gritted teeth as she glared across at Akutsu. Her temper was getting worked up again. "But we shouldn't lose our chance just because of him provoking us."

Akutsu smirked again. "What's wrong? Let's do this...you piece of trash." Taiya bit back a string of profanity itching to come out, and she felt Momoshiro shake with anger.

"That bastard- I can't take it anymore!" Momoshiro broke free and was dashing towards Akatsu, but-

"Cut it out!"

Tezuka's authoritive voice boomed out onto the courts, causing intimidation from the other members. And this time, he wasn't in a purple shirt. Momoshiro stopped, biting back surprise before focusing his eyes on Akutsu again. Taiya noticed Tezuka was staring at Akutsu himself. "This ends now."

Momo slowly rejoined the group again. Just like Tezuka to be able to command with just his voice.

"That's Yamabuki's Akatsu."

"Eh, Yamabuki?" said Sakuno, the first year admirer of Ryoma, in surprise.

"That's right. They are our next opponent."

_'Our next opponent...eh?' _thought Taiya.

"Yamabuki has incredibly strong doubles teams. Last year, both teams went into the Nationals."

"You serious?" Taiya breathed out. Inui nodded.

"They won both their doubles matches, and then Senji and Sengoku finished the job in their singles 3 and 4 match. That's their attack pattern," informed Inui. And yes, Senji IS another OC which probably will not be mentioned again after matches.

"So they are as good as our Golden Pair, right?"

"Last year, Oishi lost when he was teamed with a senpai," spoke Fuji. "The same pairs in this tournament as well."

"But last year, didn't you guys win against Yamabuki?" said Taiya, slightly confused at all their worrying. They all stared at her. "What? I've been studying Seigaku's tennis history, big deal."

"That's true, but we lost the Doubles, and Tezuka faced Sengoku in Singles 4. We were able to recover from that."

"If they had even one more good player..." started Fuji, "We would've been in serious trouble." Kawamura then nervously spoke up.

"But this year, they do have another..."

"EHHH?!"

"Yeah, that guy from earlier..."

Taiya thought about it, her hand resting on her chin. _'Akutsu Jin...' _She gulped. _'With me as an active player today, will we win?'_

What was Ryuzaki thinking, putting her here?

----

The first doubles match flew by in a minutes. This time though, Taiya wasn't as shocked with Fuji and Kawamura's result. Fuji and Kawamura were both better singles players than Doubles, and up against a National-level Doubles Teams, it was almost expected. _'Still...' _She walked up to Fuji with a sweat towel. _'They played hard.' _

"Thanks." Fuji gave a smile as he dabbed at his perspiring forehead, sweat dripping along his face. Even he was panting; Taiya always had somehow subconsciously seen him as a deity- unbeatable, unphasable. She should really stop being so blunt about calling him a genius- maybe he would like to be treated as a normal person, not just a Tensai.

Suddenly, Taiya had an urge to confront Ryuzaki-sensei about her positioning on the team. "Ryuzaki-sensei, um..." She shifted her weight to her other foot uncomfortably.

"Yes?"

"I was just wondering...why would...you place me in the game at all? I did horribly in the last few practices...I mean, I'm just managing right now and you already know about my many difficulties and, uh, is it wise-"

"Taiya." Taiya stopped blabbering at the use of her real name. Ryuzaki smiled. "You have potential to do well in tennis; it's not just about being talented or an expert right off the bat. What's important is improvement. Tezuka and I have agreed that you have the potential to improve, as long as, that is, your health doesn't get in your way like last time," she chuckled. "Stop worrying and just prepare. we're not expecting you to just win- but try your best and experience..." she paused and stared off into the courts. "Experience the sort of tennis players we have in Japan."

Strangely touched, Taiya found the strength to nod fervently. She was here to prove something, as corny as it sounds altogether. "_Hai_! I understand!...Thank you for this opportunity," she finished awkwardly before jogging off again.

_'It's Eiji's match now.' _Taiya stood next to Fuji. Oishi seemed tense, but Eiji's bubbly character seemed to have calmed his nerves down. _'That's Eiji, alright,' _thought Taiya as she resumed observing the match.

The start seemed to have brought tension to the Seigaku supporters. Points were being scored rather easily as opposed to normal for the opposition.. Thankfully Oishi's calm and strategical play seemed to work through. "He's calmly analyzing the situation. He doesn't want to repeat what happened last year," said Fuji.

"Of course; who would?"

"Sanzushi, it's time for you to start warming up."

"_Hai hai, buchou_."

----

After a while, Taiya returned a few minutes prior to her match. Eiji bounced up and gave a large grin, striking a rather victorious pose in front of her. "Yay! We won, Ta-i-chi!"

A smile lit up on Taiya's face. "Really?! Awesome!" Taiya and Eiji high-fived before Taiya left to take a drink. Eiji took his time by telling a blow-by-blow recount of what happened, Fuji sometimes cutting in to un-exaggerate exaggerrated parts.

"Your match started in 5 minutes, Sanzushi. Your opponent is called Karushi Senji, and based on my data, he is yet another offense player."

"Karushi?" The name stirred a memory in her head. "Karushi Senji...ah!" At that same moment, Karushi Sen from Fudomine popped up (for probably the last time ever in this story -cackles-).

"Yo!"

"Karushi-san! What are you still doing here?!" she exclaimed.

"I'm here to watch my older brother's match; against you, no less."

"What are the chances that 2 out of 3 of my major opponents were brothers," she muttered as she entered the court.

----

The game was hard and cunning. Taiya doesn't think she's stressed out so much in her life, especially over a game. Not only was Seiji a powerful shot, his speed was well onto becoming a challenge for Taiya too.

_'To the left!' _

She sprang with her right leg to the left and returned the ball with a viciously swung backhand, not having enough time to pass the racquet to her left hand. Seiji immediately jacked it to her right again with surprisingly speed and power. Taiya panted and paused in her tracks, not even bothering to try get it.

"Game, Yamabuki, 3 games to 1! Yamabuki lead!"

Taiya heard from all over the courts Yamabuki supporters yelling their heads off. _'Great time for you, but I'm here dying against this...offensive player in both ways.'_

"Are you ready yet...shorty?" Senji smirked.

Well isn't he smart?

Karushi (Sen) felt a chill run down his spine and he left, knowing what will come next.

"...Did you just call me a shorty?" came Taiya's voice in a deadly whisper, all fatigue she felt forgotten. All who knew her well enough understood that after months and months on her height, Taiya _hated _her height being pointed out.

Eiji slapped his forehead. "Oh boy, nya..."

Taiya suddenly did an outrageous (and rather terrifying) serve which was more like a smash and it flew past Senji without him able to have time to return it. All around people awed.

"So what if I'm short?" Taiya's fringe had cast a shadow over her eyes, but everyone close enough could see her steely gaze set on her opponent. She smirked as she pointed her racquet at him, standing straight and determined in her spot "Remember my name, bitch! My name is Sanzushi Taiya, Li Xing Hua, from China, and this _shorty _is going to kick your ass!"

Fuji only sighed. "How can I live with her...? She's so dramatic." Eiji only shrugged, pulling a face.

"Tai-chan becomes like that whenever she's feeling a rush of emotion I expect," he squeaked. "That's why I like her in school when she's usually expressionless!"

Taiya served again, but this time Senji had caught up to it. Taiya quickly sprang to her feet and swiftly returned the ball with a rapid top-spin, her arm moving in a graceful crescent.

"Hey Eiji, it kind of looks like she's cultural dancing, doesn't she?" mused Fuji with a small smile while Eiji sniggered.

Taiya respectively began earning back points as she continued playing elegantly against Senji. It seemed her group of admirers increased too. But she didn't care.

Nobody called her short in an arrogant way and got away with it. Not even Fuji.

_Definitely _not Fuji.

And some guy who isn't even up to Fuji's standards...called her a shorty?!

"Game, Seigaku, 4 games to 3, Seigaku lead!"

"She's...been using her Bounce-back serve quite a fair bit, ne?" commented Eiji with a sweat-drop.

"I'm surprised that Senji hasn't countered it yet," said Fuji, crossing his arms as he watched the game. "It's not that difficult." Eiji cast him a side glance. _'Maybe for you it isn't...'_

At last, it was reaching the end where Taiya seemed victorious.

As stated before, not many people escape unscathed after they call Taiya short.

And soon, Taiya won.

"Game set and match, 6 games to 4, Seigaku lead!"

All's well ends well.

----

"Tai, are you alright?" asked Fuji as he attempted to fan the worn-out girl with his Organiser.

"Yeah," she assured in the most unassuring-sounding way, "Just a little tired..."

Fuji felt a sweat drop at the back of his head. "Don't worry, if you fall asleep, I will recount what happens in the matches, alright?"

Taiya twitched; was that the sort of image she gve off to people- a lazy ass? "I'll try sit and watch," she rpelied from the bench, her arm draped over her eyes to protect against the UV rays, "But...I really am tired...can't last long now, can I?"

"Nope. Never could before."

"I really want to hit you Fuji; is that wrong of me?"

"..."

----

"Ah, Syusuke, Taiya-chan; how were the matches?"

After Taiya's match, Momoshiro showed an excellent new move, the Jack Knife, and won his game against the 2nd Year Lucky Sengoku, while Ryoma seemed to have a very violent game against Akatsu, who had laughed off his loss as easily as that.

"We won," said Taiya rather happily, politely taking a sip of her green tea.

"Yes, if we didn't win, nee-san, you would probably not see Taiya here and instead she would be bawling her eyes out at her hou- ouch, that was rather harsh, Taiya," said Fuji with a grimace as she had just stepped on his foot with her own under the table.

"Why thank you," she grinned. She was grinning for two reasons; one, they had obviously won, two; the rumorus stopped. THE RUMOURS STOPPED!! "Fuji," she had turned to face him earlier in the day with practically tears in her eyes, "I'm not gay- _I'm not gay!!!_" she had practically wailed with happiness while Fuji had thought over her words with care.

"Oh yeah, Taiya, sorry to burst your bubble," spoke Fuji from his swivel chair in his room while Taiya herself was seated on the ground cross-legged, "But...I heard that there were rumours still...about me having a girlfriend...and, um, the bad thing is...a few of them (you know who) knows the name of that stand-in girlfriend."

Taiya stared at him wiuth such a composed face that he had trouble identifying her feelings.

Several long seconds passed...

Fuji left the room to water his cacti.

Suddenly...

"WHAT?!"

----

**A/N **- Yeah, surprise, surprise, I'm still alive. -.- Does anyone even read this anymore? I haven't updated in, like...months. Same goes for a certain someone _Sindy_. Lol.

**Just in case **you forgot (I mean, this story IS pretty draggy and long, and gets updated very slowly), due to my own personal changes (to fit in the OC character no less), **it has 2 Doubles Matches and 4 Singles Matches**, in which **4 matches usually have to be won.**

Please **comment **if you have time to (and CC too, I need all the help I can get), and also tell me which parts of previous chapters (including Himitsu) I should totally skip slash edit out if you feel the strong urge too. I'm really...pissed off at the long chapters and the draggy-ness of it all. Hahaha, yes, I'M pissed off. Possibly more than you guys..

Well, eh, bye bye!

...Please don't flame where it says something like "This is the most vile thing I've ever set eyes on and I puked and"- etc etc, because...it's stupid. Just flat out tell me the things I can change. And tip; it works better when you're polite. **Thank you all!**


	7. Side: That Fushiki Guy

_The _Fushiki who seems to know Taiya's secret (and has hints to black mail her) hasn't appeared in the chapters, no? Or bothered Taiya after her match, yeah?

Let's just say, right after the matches...

Fuji said, "Taiya, wait with Eiji for a bit; I'll be back."

"Got'cha," she had replied.

Then for Fushiki...

"So you know about Taiya, huh?"

"Huh?"

He was met by Fuji again.

"You know, don't you?"

He was 'interrogated' by Fuji.

"Uhhh..." His body staretd to back him away to safety subconsciously.

"Taiya really wants to complete somethign here, so don't tell anyone, okay?"

He was threatened.

"Okay...?(!)"

He was soon black-mailed.

"OKAY, OKAY! JUST DON'T HURT ME!"

And he let Fuji win.

Again.

In getting what he wanted.

I will avoid going into detail, because I am lazy, and all you need to know is that this minor character won't have a role...ever again.


	8. Dropped : Pathetic : Thoughts

**A/N - Timeline: **

When I started writing I was stupid (I may still be stupid), and I forgot that in Japan they don't necessarily start the school year on January, which I made true in this story. It's about mid March here...I think. Because of stupid actions, my story is -cough-cough-_fucked up to the extreme_-cough-. I made this story on whim when I was a hopeless fanatic. A thousand pardons. I might try check over the story again one day...in my life...

So please...don't try to keep up with the timeline in this story...trust me, it gives you headaches...T-T. And also, for the sake of your brain cells and eyes, skip over boring laggy draggy parts (and if possible, _**report the unbearable ones **_so I can reduce the word count and make it easier to read)

A long...draggy chapter..._sumimasen_...

-

Chapter 8 – Pathetic

"The Kantou Regional Tournament is different from the Prefecturals. You guys got that? There's a possibility that strong players who were preserved in the lower tournaments will shine. We would like to send out our best players too." Ryuzaki-sensei paused as to let the message sink in to every one of them; the dramatic effect works every time. "Only the top two players on each court can become a Regular, with the exception of the 9th player (who is selected with the 9th highest score). You guys should feel lucky ― there used to be only 8 Regulars allowed." Ryuzaki smirked. "Everyone, do your best!"

"_Hai_!"

Meanwhile...

"Oh my God...I totally forgot..."

Taiya had felt brilliant after a straight 7.5 hours of studying last night that ensured her that she wouldn't fail the upcoming exams (maybe close to it, but not actually fail). But now, the Chinese-Japanese felt the first signs of anxiety _growing _in her very bone marrow, something that occasionally happened when her sexuality was questioned (with a raised eyebrow) towards a certain fair-haired tennis player. And Taiya had yet to hear of her possible diagnosis of major mood-swings. Maybe the fact that she hadn't prepared for the Ranking matches in any way shot a finishing bullet to her heart?

Taiya became a withering shadow on the court bench.

_'The Ranking matches...!'_

Pathetic.

-

The first day of the matches had rendered Taiya shocked to the point of speechlessness. Though winning all of her matches against the 2nd years and 3rd year members ― while testing out her newly improved stamina ― Taiya had still undeniably reached the drawing conclusion that her court play was getting worst.

And now through the second day, her lack of training was becoming more apparent and the girl cursed at herself for falling behind when she had claimed to herself and all of her team mates that she would try her hardest and do well. She even gave up a year of her gender for her pride.

Kaidoh soon appeared in front of her. "_Senpai_, we have a match."

Taiya stuttered, "A-ah...I'm coming." He nodded and left for the located court.

She was doomed.

-

The last day of the Ranking Matches had been memorable for everyone in the tennis clubs in their own significant ways. Momoshiro had played a match against Tezuka and had been beaten in a quick and merciless game, and Taiya had her tennis pride shattered within the week with a three ton hammer.

"Tai, how'd you...go...?" Fuji Syusuke trailed off awkwardly as the half-Chinese girl walked right past him as though his existence was erased, eyes staring at nothing in particular.

_'I guess...bad...?' _

Moving swiftly through other students and ignoring the heat of the sun pounding unmercifully against his shoulder blades, Fuji headed for the scoring table which was currently cleared of students. He flipped through the scoring book, reaching the players charts. He felt himself sigh as he traced the matches after the girl's alias:

Taiya had lost both her matches against Kaidoh and Oishi.

_'Sanzushi-Kaidoh, 4-6. Sanzushi-Oishi...' _Fuji grimaced. _'3-6 (Sanzushi-Hiroshi, 6-3).'_ '

'_For her to have difficulties even against that other third year…weird…'_

Against Kaidoh and Oishi, the girl had lost in an almost one-sided match. The genius had seen a few minutes out of those two matches and had to admit that her play was far from exceptional. The grace that the Chinese-Japanese had first displayed when she arrived had seemed to have also evaporated with the intense weather. Sanzushi Taiya's movements had been stiff and jolty ― almost uncertain ― when on court, and her prided quick and able footwork was shattered through her inability to concentrate on the game. With her two main skills totally nullified during the matches against Kaidoh and Oishi, it was no wonder why she couldn't make a suitable comeback.

_'Kaidoh with his confusing Snake Shot and Oishi with his marvellous Game Play_..._against them, she wouldn't have been able to pull through without her speed and reactions. It's because of them that she had time to think out an appropriate court play to act on while making sure her points don't get marked off one by one.' _Fuji could understand well when he compared Eiji and Taiya's tennis play.

_'But she couldn't even pinpoint the basic traps,' _the boy added mentally, watching his neighbour sit on the bench, a soft, white sweat towel draped over her neck and hanging limp at the sides much like her own arms. The girl scuffed her shoe once, staring at the ground blankly. _'She just became a fine epitome of one who let themselves get mentally destroyed during a match. That was apparent during her game against Hiroshi...how mortifying.'_

Fuji had played against Hiroshi before in the past, and he knew that the other 3rd year had potential, but at the same time he understood the usual Taiya shouldn't have had a problem against him as she was now.

_'I don't think there's anything I can do as of now though,' _Fuji thought, inevitably concerned. _'I'll just talk to her later...'_

--

"Is Sanzushi-kun here today?"

Those who had watched the Ranking Matches understood.

"No, _sensei_. He told me to pass on the message that he is unwell," Fuji lied smoothly. The teacher looked mildly concerned before she nodded and marked her absent.

"Send him my regards then, ne, Fuji-kun?"

"_Hai_." _'I expected this as much...'_

"Tai-chan didn't come, huh?" said Eiji after class, stretching his arms over his head. His head perked up. "Oh, the freshmen! Hey, what're you guys up to?"

The three had been sporting worried expressions and the five were engaged in a short discussion.

"Well, it's true that Momo hasn't been around recently," commented the red-head after hearing what the three freshmen had to say. "Actually, Tai-chan was absent as well. Thanks to them, club activities have been quieter ― no matter how you look at it, it's different from usual, ne?"

Horio agreed, "Isn't it?"

But Eiji merely smiled. "Well, it broadens their horizons, doesn't it? Not having the experience of dropping out of the Regulars is something only Fuji and Tezuka could achieve ("why thank you," smiled Fuji). It'll be stupid if they beat themselves over it, well, in Tai-chan's case anyway."

"Indeed..." nodded Fuji. "I'll call he― him later (1)," he said, giving a quick smile before heading off. Horio and the other two raised their eyebrows.

"Was Fuji-senpai...about to address Sanzushi-senpai as a she―"

"_Saa, _freshmen! Let's go have lunch, ne? My treat, my treat, stop thinking about stupid things, let's go!" exclaimed Eiji, trying to keep the haste out of his voice. _'This is so pathetic,' _he thought with a forced smile. _'To think I almost thought Tai-chan was both guy and girl simultaneously…she'd kill me for that.'_

_'But Tai-chan sure is troublesome, ne, Fujiko?'_ he thought to himself almost fondly_. 'Well, Tai-chan will be fine.' _He stared down the stairs to the lower floor. _'Fuji'll fix her.'_

-

Taiya walked to the street tennis courts, duffel bag over one shoulder and a tennis racquet in her other hand.

_'I don't think I have ever skipped school before. I'm surprised that mum would let me skip school though.' _Sanzushi Aiki had returned on the last day of the ranking matches thankfully and she had skilfully avoided questions Fuji had seemed to want to ask her. At the present time, Taiya was unsure of whether she wanted to talk to the genius tennis player. _'Compared to Fuji...' _she laughed bitterly to herself. _'I'm pathetic. This is so disappointing…and embarrassing.' _Taiya blinked in realization. _'I sound so emo.'_

Dressed in sport gear, consisting of dark-blue sport-shirt and black shorts, Taiya looked around for opponents to play.

"Hey, you there." Taiya turned and saw the two guys from Gyokurin High. Perfect. "Hey, aren't you..."

"Sanzushi. Sanzushi Taiy― Tai_chi_ _desu_," Taiya gave a slight bow.

"Yo, we remember ya. Say, want a game?" one of the guys offered, smile on his face.

Taiya forced herself to smile.

"Sure."

-

Fuji swung his racquet in a perfectly done forehand, quickly and swiftly earning himself a point. He smiled despite the heat.

_'Things are really moody around here...'_

The infamous Golden Pair had gotten into a fight over Taiya's absence, Eiji making a careless comment that he personally knew would not affect Taiya negatively overall (though seeing how the girl was on the last day of the Ranking matches, Fuji thought otherwise now). Momoshiro failed to show up to the courts as well.

And Tezuka looked like he noticed Momoshiro and Taiya's constant absence because it seemed like he was calculating how many laps they would end up doing once they came back. Fuji estimated something nearing above the sixties.

He sighed for the hundredth time.

He'd have to go look for her after all; she was too irresponsible to think properly for herself. _'That independence sometimes brings downfall; you'll need the help of others to help you get back up.' _He smiled fondly to himself as he recalled past memories. _'Because you're stupid, ne?'_

Sanzushi Taiya, he reckoned, was almost like a robot with a fuse undone (and maybe a screw missing too); she only studied and played tennis — and make little kids cry when they see her get angry — but she barely hung around much unless it's for the library and the street courts.

_'She's not _bad _at socializing,' _mused Fuji fairly as he walked over to pick up a ball, _'As long as she gets into contact with people she's fine. But she doesn't...' _He threw the ball up, arched his back and served skilfully to his practice opponent. _'...extend to others?'_

Fuji chuckled to himself: Sanzushi Taiya's personality was really, really troublesome to deal with. But it didn't _really_ matter.

He was, as she constantly reminded him, a _tensai _afterall.

-

_'I didn't expect this to happen...' _

Momoshiro had stopped by, with Fudomine's captain's younger sister nonetheless and the two Seigaku players had doubled up and played against the Gyokurin players. They worked with stiff but surprising teamwork — maybe due to the simultaneous loser's complex they held at the moment — and had almost flattened the other two. _'But I'm not satisfied.' _

Taiya knew Momoshiro had thought along the same lines. He had patted her shoulder, wished her well, and then headed home in a manner which showed his own disappointment with himself.

_"You're not alone on this, Tai-senpai."_

_'Geez, I know that...but still...' _Taiya, for the first time that year, wondered why she was dressed up as a boy. _'Maybe I was a little rash in cutting off my hair...I kind of miss it...' _Her neck felt naked without it. It was like walking around after a shower without a towel all of a sudden (she pushed the thoughts to the back of her head).

When Ann had mentioned the Kantou Regional Tournament, Taiya's heart sunk in a way she hadn't felt in a long, long time, and she felt bitter about it. The word _pathetic _kept echoing in her head ― in her brother's voice nonetheless ― and had irked and saddened her at the same time.

If only she was like Fuji...

"Sanzushi-kun? Are you listening?"

Ann waved a hand in front of the violet-eyed girls face after she finished talking about Fudomine's recovery. The boy (ahem) seemed to be lost in a daze and she wondered how he could remain so focused at a match.

"Ah, sorry," Taiya said, turning and giving a sheepish smile under her cap. "I blanked out."

Ann broke into a smile.

"Your smile is very cute, Sanzushi-kun."

"E-eh?!" Taiya flushed slightly; what the hell does she do when she receives a compliment like that, from a girl nonetheless?! "I-is that so..?" _'This is awkward…'_ Ann nodded.

"_Un_. But...it seems kind of lonely," the brown-haired girl continued, staring ahead in front. "You look happiest around your friends — Fuji-kun and Kikumaru-kun, is it?"

_'Of course, they're my...' _

Taiya was suddenly struck speechless as she subconsciously bit down on her lower lip gently. Eiji and Fuji were her best friends in Japan. She didn't know whether it was her wishful one-sided thoughts, but she knew when somebody became important to her. _'That sounded disgustingly corny, I'm glad I only thought that.'_ She thought to herself in a lame attempt to joke.

"Is there something wrong, Sanzushi-kun?" the other girl inquired. "Sanzushi-kun and Momoshiro-kun were both strange on the court."

"**Depression...!**"

"Huh?"

"...No, nothing. Sorry." Ann glanced at the Chinese-Japanese transfer and smiled. Taiya tried to brush off the goose bumps that were forming over her body. _'I've never...hung out with a girl before..! That's so sad!'_

"Ne, Sanzushi-kun." Taiya blinked.

"Hm?"

"Shall we play a match?"

-

_'Okay, I better go look for her now.' _Fuji left the school grounds and waved goodbye to Eiji, making his way back home. Then he stopped in his tracks. He turned on his heel and headed for the street tennis courts instead.

_'It's more likely she's there,' _he nodded to himself.

-

"Oh my _God_,is that― hide me, Ann-chan (-- quickly acquainted)!"

"Why? Oh, look, it's Fuji-kun!" Taiya pressed her back against Ann's, trying to squat out of view. "Fuji-kun! Good afternoon!"

Fuji turned around and smiled at the sight of Tachibana's younger sister and the obvious shadow lurking behind. "Good afternoon. What are you doing here? You seem to have something...disturbing on your back." Fuji reached over Ann's head and dropped his half-filled drink bottle. A dull _clonk _sound came along with swearing.

"Ge―! Dammit, Fuji, you didn't have to do that?!" shouted Taiya, irritation written on her face.

Fuji smiled in what he tried to make and affectionate way. "Oh you, Tai-kun. You don't have to miss me _that _much―"

"The Hell I do!!"

"Well it seems you've recovered." The girl was taken aback at Fuji's kind smile and somewhat relieved tone of voice. "That's good."

"Well, y-yeah...I just played a match against Ann-chan here and―" Taiya then clasped her hand over her mouth; she forgot Ann was there despite the fact she had been using the younger girl as a shield; she had just projected her normal voice. "Eh...I mean..."

Ann blinked. "Is your throat okay?"

"Y-yeah...why...uh...wouldn't it be?" finished Taiya lamely. Fuji shook his head.

"Pathetic, Taiya." Word of the day. Taiya looked like she got electrocuted at the sound of her name before Fuji pressed on, "It should be okay, right? You've screwed up already."

"...That's mean, Fuji." _'Fuji, you're awfully lax about this.'_

"Do not deny the truth; speak it," finished Fuji with a small grin. He rounded on Ann. "Ah, Ann-san, right?"

"_Hai_, Fuji-kun. You can call me Ann-chan!" the brown-haired teen assured, smiling. Taiya couldn't help but feel herself blush a little. _'She's cute.'_

Time froze momentarily for the young girl.

_'Why the Hell am I thinking these things?! Has my inner sense developed into a guy's as well?! Okay, I'll ask Fuji about it later to see if it's normal, alright, calm down. Hmm, I wonder why Fuji came down here; he hardly comes down here from what I heard_―_'_

"...And that's briefly what is happening," Taiya heard Fuji finish. She smelt something forbidden in the air.

"Ehhh, really?" gasped Ann in awe, staring at Taiya. Taiya felt herself sweat.

_'Eh, what's up? I feel like I've been put on a freak show...' _

"No wonder I got the feeling you weren't normal!"

_'Hah?!'_

"So...you're really Taiya-chan, ne?" Ann finished sweetly.

Taiya felt her jaw drop. She rotated and stared at Fuji questionably, with a personal _the-reason-better-be-good-or-you'll-meet-the-Devil _look hidden behind her eyes reserved for Fuji alone. He raised his hands in defence and smiled. "I merely let her in a bit on your situation; I thought it would be easier for you to be able to have a girl to talk to when it―"

"Please tell me before you start blurting stuff like that out! Fuji!" Taiya whined pathetically before making an apologetic face at Ann. "Sorry about this...um, can you please not tell anybody? Like, anybody at all?" _'I really wouldn't like to have to threaten a cute girl.'_ Ann merely smiled confidently.

"Don't worry, as a fellow female tennis player, your secret is safe with me!" Fuji gave this annoyingly superior look to Taiya which she chose to ignore as she sighed in relief.

Ann continued, "Phew, I guess it's a relief to the other members ― now Sen-kun doesn't have to think he's gay anymore!"

Rooted on the spot and utterly confused, Taiya uttered the next most intelligent thing she could think of:

"What?"

Ann beamed.

"Nothing!"

-

Fuji and Taiya waved goodbye to Ann, with Taiya thanking her profusely and Fuji just teasing Taiya furthermore.

"Why'd you come down here?" asked the girl.

A cool brush of wind blew by and Taiya caught the scent of Fuji's usual cologne. A wave of nostalgia erupted inside of her, and she couldn't help but smile (only for it to fall drastically as she realized what she had been smiling at). "To look for a certain silly little girl who is cross-dressing to play tennis," Fuji replied calmly.

"...I guess that's me. Unless you are trying to look for yourself ― okay sorry, sorry!" She raised her arms in defence.

Silence fell between the two as they turned a corner and walked down another street in the direction of their homes. Their pitter-patter of footsteps seemed to magnify in the empty streets, disturbing the mood and suppressing it to something...awkward...

Fuji kept quiet, unsure of what to say to make up for lost time; the mere absence of her from school was uncommon, and made Fuji feel inevitably bored. Eiji was more of the teaser instead of the teased and possessed the ability to brush off most of Fuji's passing remarks with an accustomed flourish. The girl was fresh from another country, and was the owner of a sharp temper and melodramatic actions; who wouldn't want to make fun of her? Even her mother did!

"Eiji and Oishi had a fight, you know?" Fuji finally blurted out from beside her. Wow, why'd he say that? He could have kicked himself.

Taiya drawled, "Heeeh, you're kidding; I can't imagine it."

"Yeah, they were fighting about you when you didn't show up for practice."

Taiya stopped in her tracks and turned to him. "Crap, then it's my fault, huh?" she laughed.

"Hmmm, well, yeah, I guess," finished Fuji warmly, not noticing Taiya's the flicker of annoyance cross her face. "Momo didn't come to school neither. Everyone was worried about you two ― even Echizen."

To his surprise, Taiya let out a heartfelt chuckle, laughing softly into the knuckles of her right hand; it was more inviting to the ears then her usual 'what-a-joke' scoff and that common scorn on her face. "As if," she whispered as though to herself and Fuji's collar suddenly felt tight. He coughed, trying to shove thoughts away from his head but to no avail.

_'She's calm...and she's acting like a ...well..._girl_.' _

Maybe the sudden contact with another girl had rendered Taiya to give in to her more feminine side, he thought reasonably. If hanging around guys most of the time had rendered her into a guy (not a bad looking guy either), it could happen too with the overwhelming influence of a girl – who plays tennis nonetheless.

_'I feel like I should be saying... '_hisashiburi (2)_'...' _Fuji laughed to himself inwardly. _'That would be too awkward...it was only 3 days...'_

"Hey, Fuji," Taiya suddenly spoke up, breaking him away from his chain of thoughts. "What happens if you think a girl is cute?"

Fuji, for some weird reason unbeknownst to him, felt his neck get warmer as an overwhelming feeling of wanting to avoid the girl's violet-coloured eyes filled him. "Um...I guess you might..." _'...like them?' _The sudden feeling of being doused by a heavy wave claimed him, and the boy shook his head violently.

"It can't be that you _like _them right? Not when you're a girl?" stressed Taiya, as though trying to persuade him.

Fuji breathed out a sigh of relief. _'Oh, so she's talking about hersel_―

...

_...ehhhhh?!'_

"Okay, good, I thought there might have been something wrong with me," Taiya smiled to herself in satisfaction. "What do you think, Fuji? Don't you think Ann-chan is cute?" Taiya felt almost annoyed at the expression Fuji was giving her right now, which read something along the lines of _were you lying when you said you were a girl?_ Taiya reminded herself to beat the sceptical look off his face later with the back of her hand.

"Uh...yeah, of course," Fuji finally answered. Taiya nodded as though approvingly before she blurted out, "Ehhh?! Wow, I―I thought guys don't answer those questions!"

"Who told you that?"

"My friends in China?" she offered with an unknowing shrug.

A small chuckle graces Fuji's lips again. "Well, maybe it's different here in Japan?" he said with his trademark serene smile. Taiya laughed a little, and the previous awkwardness dissipated.

Reaching the gate of the double-story household of the Sanzushi's, Taiya offered her laidback wave, capturing the image and habits of a casual teenage boy almost perfectly.

"Well, this is my stop." He saw the girl hesitate for a split second. He felt a turn of surprise as she abruptly coughed out an awkward, "Thanks for today, Fuji. Uh...I'm glad you came to, uh, find...me...?" She trailed off, looking confused at her words as she mumbled to herself, "Or is it 'thank you for finding me?'. 'Thank you for helping me' is better maybe...?" She looked up and blushed, waving her hands around frantically. "I mean, thanks a lot for always being a friend! And I'm sorry I'm always and idiot and an ass and...yeah."

Fuji's expression looked as though he just saw her grow a beard.

The girl's temple gave a danger sign of forming an anger mark. _'He looks almost scared. Is he mocking me again?' _He just said, "Anytime," in a curt voice and that was that.

Taiya pushed open her gate, stepped inside before clicking it gently back into place. The day had been strangely exhausting. Offering her friend one of her best smiles (which he tried not to laugh at, since it looked so _normal _compared to her evil, twisted ones), Taiya said, "Thanks again, Fuji. I really mean it. _Ja_."

"Taiya."

The addressed girl looked over her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"You...you are cute too. I-in another way I mean, that is..." Fuji trailed off, eyes scanning for something invisible on the ground subconsciously. It made Taiya wonder what exactly was wrong with him, cool, calm and composed Fuji Syusuke. Maybe he dropped 5 yen? "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow morning! Good night…!"

Fuji left in a hurry that was very much unbecoming of him.

_'W-what was...that...?' _the girl thought. Taiya felt her left eye widen slightly large in comparison to her right one.

Talk about random.

-

_'I think I just said something stupid,' _thought Fuji from behind his front door. _'And I thought only Taiya could do that.'_

He sighed.

-

"I can't tolerate anyone who breaks the rules." _'Thought so...' _"You're not going to be using your racquet for a while. You'll pick up balls. It's terrible for you to miss club activities for three days."

"_Hai_! I'm very sorry!" apologized Taiya, head dipped in a customary bow. Apparently half-satisfied, Tezuka Kunimitsu's eyes shifted sharply to gaze upon the other black-haired member. "You too, Momoshiro."

"_Hai. Sumimasen deshita!_" the boy bowed his head.

"100 laps around the court. Go now."

"_'Hai_!" echoed Momoshiro and Taiya, though without lacking the same thoughts of _'I really doubt I can make it' _weaving through their thought processes. Eiji grinned as Taiya and Momoshiro ran pass, shouting a cheery, "Good luck, you guys!" in a teasing tone nonetheless.

"Shut up, Eiji!"

"Ah, how meeean, Tai-chan!"

_'It seems as though everything is back to normal,' _thought Oishi with mild amusement as he watched his team-mates on the court, running, laughing, swearing (?!) and practicing intensively for the soon-to-come match. _'Maybe...it's Eiji that understands Taiya best. Taiya is unpredictable in her own way...' _He smiled as the red-head did a random display of acrobatics on the court, still managing to hit every ball that came across his way. _'I guess all that is left to worry about is the next matches.'_

He was unaware of the future predicaments their team would face.

-

_Taiya stared and felt the horror creeping up her throat. Mouth unusually dry as she intook more than enough daily fluids, Taiya could only utter one word:_

_"What...?" _

_Her purple-coloured eyes never left green, and sudden the collar on her casual button-up shirt seemed tight. The tie hung loose from beneath the collar but it felt like it was strangling her slowly._

_"I'll leave Seigaku in your hands."_

_--_

**A/N - **..._Hisashiburi... _(-soul flies out of mouth-). Writers block along with a soon-to-come artery block if school decides to deliver the finishing blow.

I'm sorry for such a crap update after...like...almost a year (does anybody still...somehow..._read _this?).

Any suggestions for what people would _like _in the story apart from the stuff (crap) I write? Please…suggestions..._anyone_...updates (if they are wanted) will come faster and probably in better quality….

**Review if you still want the next update **(not because I want to be petty, but it's been so long I dunno if anyone, even if they marked this story, really wanna read it). Next chapter shouldn't be more than a week or two since it's already half typed.

But if nobody wants it, I'll stop writing it. Peace…v

-

-

Terms and stuff marked with numbers:

(1) : Fuji was about to start his sentence with _kanojo_, which is a term that can be used to address a female, like English 'she' or 'her'. He switched to the more masculine _'kare'_, a shortened form of _kareshi_, which is obviously 'him' or 'he'.

(2) : Hisashiburi, a phrase said when you haven't seen the other person/party for a while.


	9. Doubles

-**Doubles-**

"They're on a different level from the opponents we've faced so far. If you don't fight with everything you have, you'll get crushed!" Ryuzaki Sumire have them all a final, hard stare before continuing, "Doubles 2: Kikumaru-Sanzushi. Doubles 1: Inui-Kaidoh. Singles 4: Momoshiro. Singles 3: Kawamura. Singles 2: Fuji. Singles 1: Tezuka." Taiya, who was standing next to Eiji, tried hard to cease her shaking. "At the moment, there will be no changes. If you lose here, the Third Years (Seniors) will have to retire."

Everybody on the team understood what _that _meant: most of the team were remarkably talented 3rd years. Hopes for the current year and the next were on the line.

"Our dreams of going to the Nationals will also disappear," said Ryuzaki-sensei in a serious undertone. "Everyone! Play with all you have so that you'll have no regrets!"

"_Hai_!"

Taiya's lack of concentration when in a dire situation had always been her weak point.

This was, inevitably, a dire situation.

_'I just got dropped from the Regulars and now you are setting me up in the __**tournament**__ playing __**doubles**__ nonetheless you really hate me God are you mocking me?!' _Even when just thinking her mind didn't stop to add grammar. A presence soon enclosed onto her and she felt no need to turn around to confirm who it was.

"Eiji."

The red-head watched as the girl lifted her face to stare at him, apology written in her smile.

"Sorry 'bout this," said Taiya.

Eiji hesitated for just a second before grinning ear-to-ear, waving it away. "Forget it, forget it! Nobody expected this to happen ― especially the part about the pregnant lady," he said, talking to her in hushed tone beside his hand.

Taiya laughed. "That's for sure. Maybe I should have brought my Seigaku shirt ― at least I'm wearing sport shorts though," the girl smiled, relaxing just slightly. Eiji felt himself mirroring the action and felt a little better about himself for cheering her up. "I only brought the Seigaku 'Sure Win' bandana ― Holy Christ I wrote 'Sure Kill'!" the girl suddenly cried out, looking hassled as she pulled off the white strip from her wrist while Eiji cracked up laughing, holding his stomach.

"Tai-chan just declared war on Hyotei!"

"Shut up, Eiji, it was a mistake―"

"―and you're from China too, a native in Kanji!"

"Argh, you!"

Just when Taiya was about to headlock Eiji (with little success ― he was about half a foot taller than her), Fuji appeared, with Yuuta nonetheless.

"Wow, this looks fun," he said in greeting whille Yuuta merely gave a nod of acknowledgement when two pairs of eyes turned to him. "What happened now?"

Eiji instantly flung the 必殺 bandana and flashed it to Fuji's eyes. Taiya waited as the brunette stared before covering his mouth and turning away with understanding snickers and Eiji erupted in laughter again. Yuuta looked almost surprised (almost) at his older brother's immature behaviour.

"So anyway," spoke up Taiya loudly, still irked, "What brings you here, Fuji..._hime_?"

There was a tantalizing silence as Taiya inwardly smirked in victory and the edge of Fuji's smile twitched.

"Taiya, you really―" He was cut off by a woman's voice.

"_10 minutes to the start of matches. All schools, please enter the courts_," the voice said from a loud-speaker overhead. Taiya once again shuddered out of nerves,hand gripping the strap of her bag unusually tight. Eiji noticed and tried to lighten the mood.

"Let's go, Tai-chan. You remembered all the hand signs before; just try our best."

Tezuka's eyes when they grouped up combed over them, much like as though he was x-raying them through his glasses. Comfirming all of the members, he said, "Now, let's play with no regrets! Don't let your guard down!"

"_Hai_!"

Eiji clenched his fist. "I have to play for Oishi too!"

Taiya stared down at the concrete, counting the number of scratches on her runners before inhaling and closing her eyes. She breathed out, held her breath, before opening her eyes; she had to play for Oishi just as much as the red-headed acrobat. _'I should be calm now.' _But her heart thudded painfully in her chest nonetheless.

"Even though our opponents dream of going to Nationals too, we're going to win and enter the Nationals!" Tezuka's face took on a surprising image of determination, his fist imitating Eiji's own. "Let's play with our full force!"

"_Hai!_"

Tezuka turned to face the jet-black-haired girl, who was roughly removing her tie from under her collar. "Sanzushi." She felt stares before only just realizing what she was to do. Taiya cleared her throat, clenched her eyes before shouting, "**Seigaku**!"

"Fight!"

-

"Now, Seigaku vs. Hyotei, Doubles 2 will now start."

Standing on the courts, feeling the burn of eyes all around the vicinity, Taiya muttered, "Why are they so noisy...?"

The Hyotei supporters seemed to hold some sort of hidden but nonetheless annoying sense of superiority towards the soon-to-start game, almost as though they all knew something those of Seigaku didn't. Knowing full well of Hyotei's capabilities from some of the tapes she had watched at Fuji's house, Taiya went through a mental check-list of doubles play tactics.

Eiji looked almost saddened, his large eyes looking uncommonly downcast. "What's up with this...this atmosphere..."

With the cheers of "Hyotei, Hyotei!" ringing around them and pounding in their ears, it was a pretty good psychological attack for Eiji who worked best with positive attention to himself. Taiya couldn't help but agree with his mood. And Fuji hadn't helped either.

_"Use all three dozen of those encouraging love letters from your fan girls to stand at the top, Tai-kun!"_

_"...Take this."_

_"Ow..."_

Not only were the contents of the mail she received in her shoe locker the previous morning disturbing, but Fuji's out-of-character voice also recalled memories of her first stay at the Fuji household, where he had deliberately annoyed her to her wits end.

_'Thinking about it pisses me off...' _thought Taiya darkly, ignoring the smiling Fuji in the crowd, waving her 'sure kill' bandana in the air like a flag.

"The ones who will win is Hyotei..." Taiya's head suddenly shot up and she noticed the blue-haired player, Oshitari Yuushi. He was the one who had spoke. But he was not alone, as another red-head smirked, continuing, "The ones who will lose is Seigaku..."

Dark eyes scrutinized the girl and Taiya was almost positive the other player was looking down at her. "I heard there was a transfer student in. So you're really a Regular, huh?" said Oshitari coyly. Taiya stiffened and cast a steely gaze to the other but made no comment. Hot, bubbling irritation was swelling up within and Taiya bit back a retort.

The other red-head, Gakuto, said, "Hey, Yuushi...this is _the _Kikumaru renowned for his acrobats." There was no hiding the arrogance in his voice as he pointed to Eiji rudely and saying, "I will show you what it means by 'there is always someone better out there'."

_'He did _not _just diss Eiji, that little bowl-cut bas...' _Eiji visibly grimaced at the insult.

Taiya was to serve and she readied her racquet, ball clutched tightly in her left hand. Glaring at the pair on the opposite side of the court with rigor, she threw the ball up and served.

The game officially started.

-

_'I will make sure to redeem my tennis pride and _humiliate _you guys in this game.'_

From the looks Oshitari held at the moment, he was only just impressed by the speed and power of the ball. _'From somebody that small, I would have thought otherwise.' _With a smirk filled to the brim with confidence, Oshitari returned the ball swiftly. The ball made a soft _pak _sound at the contact.

"It's time to fight back though," spoke Oshitari. The ball soared towards them but Taiya made no movement to get the ball.

_'Eiji will get that one, knowing him.'_

As predicted, Eiji ran and covered, doing a spectacularly smooth return.

"Great, Kikumaru-senpai!"

"There's some unexpected chemistry between the two," commented Fuji. Inui raised an eyebrow at this.

"I would have thought you'd think they'd work well together?"

Fuji gave a small chuckle before he said, "I would, since they are good friends, but...Taiya sucks at doubles." Then Fuji felt his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Gakuto in the air, spinning before he hit a playful shot down at Seigaku's side of the court. Eiji spun back in a position that would be awkward to most and volleyed the ball back. The ball flew back to the other side of the court while Gakuto was still airborne, only for Oshitari ― with very quick and long strides ― to reach and ready himself for a shot.

Taiya's grip tightened and she immediately went to cover the open space. Oshitari, however, hit a high lob.

_'Shit!'_

Eiji gasped and jumped high but the ball was still too far from his reach; it sailed over the tip of his racquet. The ball landed disappointingly in the far right corner of their court.

"0-15."

Eiji looked up sheepishly, holding up a hand. "_Mengo mengo_," he said and Taiya felt her shoulders relax.

"Me too; but we'll fight back," assured the girl, brushing back a lock of hair from her face. "After those 3 days I skipped practice, it's not like I didn't try to catch up or anything!"

But the Hyotei pair were really something. Taiya noted with distaste that Gakuto's acrobatics were remarkable and that his light-weight body aided him a lot. _'But his stamina...maybe it's like Eiji's as well.' _Taiya suddenly remembered with a sickening lurch that both she and Eiji had the lowest amount of stamina on the team at the formation of the Seigaku Regulars. She hoped that results may had changed after training.

_'Right now, I just have to do my best!' _

-

The game looked disturbingly unfavourable to their side. Despite the times Taiya using her quick agility ― that raised Oshitari's opinion of her ― to manoevour through and catch the balls, it was apparent that she would soon tire out. It was** 0-30 **on the first game after they lost another point.

"Eiji!" The addressed boy turned around to face his partner. "Sorry ― I wasn't quick enough," she apologized.

"Ah, me too!" he said, giving an equally hasty, "_Mengo mengo_."

It was evident that Eiji had been affected more so than Taiya by the game. Taiya was in turn negatively influenced by his change of mood, understanding his role as mood-maker as good as Fuji. An uncomfortable sensation of being alone on the court gripped at her like a hand.

_'Eiji...am I letting you down?' _Taiya scrunched her eyes before trying to calm herself again. _'Our combination is alright. I just have to get back into the tennis rhythm.'_

Soon, they lost their service play. Taiya felt a colossal weight called reality hit her in the head. _'I'm not good enough to even be on this team...but Oishi left it to me. And Eiji...' _She cast a glance at the boy, panting and sweating from his efforts to retrieve the ball. _'I owe him for everything as well.'_

The piercing look burning through her back made her sweat-drop. _'Oh yeah, and for Tezuka-buchou as well.'_

They switched courts and Taiya heard something that totally took the cake.

"Thought they were better than _that_. Our expectations were definitely too high."

"There's no real special reason for me to actually play them...hey, Kikumaru." Taiya and Eiji stopped in their tracks. Gakuto smirked. "Try to jump more."

"**死三八**!"

People blinked back surprise at the stream of foreign words a livid Sanzushi Taiya had just said. "_Don't_...look down on _Eiji_! Eiji, let's go ― bowl-cut over there knows how to run his mouth off as well as his feet, surprise surprise," she spluttered out unneccessarily.

Gakuto scowled. "You..." The opposing player was calmed by a hand on his shoulder and, with dirty looks, the two pairs walked opposite directions.

Eiji started, "Tai-chan―"

"God, this is infuriating!" Eiji took a step back as Taiya looked close to destroying something with a good, solid punch ― she had done it before, who's to say she wouldn't now? "I understand if it's me but I can't _stand_ how they tried to diss you too!" It was like a double-layered taunt to her, who had yet to beat Eiji at a game (she had come close once upon a time, but his stamina prevailed over hers).

_'It seems a ton of people were cursed with egos bigger than Russia!' _So thought Taiya, seething.

"Tai-chan..." mumbled Eiji, eyes wide. _'I'm not sure I can quite out-run her if she gets out of hand...! _He subconsciously gulped. _'And I'm pretty fast at running too, hoi.'_

Taiya spun around and got into position. "I'm not Oishi but I'll figure out a way." Her purple eyes narrowed. "Definitely. Let's play, Eiji!"

"Y-yeah..."

The game continued and the two lost their second game. It was now at Hyotei-Seigaku, **2 games to 0**.

"Taiya is feeling pressured," said Fuji as the said girl looked like she was trying to drown herself with the water from her drink bottle, eyes downcast. Inui nodded. "From the looks of things, it's most likely she's self-destructing in terms of her concentration. Their play is not bad at all, it's just..."

Inui only hummed in agreement all the while jotting down more data. "As a makeshift pair, it's hard to adjust to the responsibilities you have. Eiji, who is accustomed to his play with Oishi, and Sanzushi, who is a diligent single player. Nobody is taking the initiative right now; they can't due to force of habit."

Fuji frowned hard. "And Oishi, who's in charge of deciding how to trick the opponents and lead the flow is an important element to Eiji's doubles play. Taiya and Eiji's play styles are similar, only Taiya's is more reckless."

A few minutes later and Hyotei was cheering harder than ever. Seigaku was close to losing their fourth game in a row.

_'We're in their pace almost. Dammit! I don't even feel like a tennis player!' _Taiya panted, the perspiration dripping off her forehead and onto the ground. _'I can't let them take control of the flow! It's the least I can do after cross-dressing for about 4 months!'_

Taiya spotted a fast movement and responded with an equally fast reaction, her feet in perfect synchronization with her movements. She returned the ball and yet another hard rally was ahead. Her movements were stiffening considerably as fatigue took its toll on her.

"Eiji, I'll take this ball," she muttered as she shot past him and, with both hands on the handle of her racquet, she tensed her arm muscles just before she delivered a furious forehand. It cut through the air and Oshitari stepped back in surprise, barely having time to react; the ball volleyed off his racquet and Taiya took the chance to smash.

Then the glorious move happened.

_'No...friggin'...way.' _

Everybody in the stands, Eiji, and even Ryuzaki-sensei were startled into silence.

Oshitari just pulled off a _Higuma Otoshi_.

"You're kidding..." murmured Eiji from beside her. Her fringe shadowed over her eyes as she gritted her teeth. Oshitari turned around and smirked.

He _smirked._

"I thought only Fuji-senpai could hit the _Higuma Otoshi_..."

"This is bad..."

"**Game, Hyotei! 4-0**!"

"Yeah!" cheered a single person in the sea of Hyotei supporters. "Go, Oshitari-senpai! Hyotei!"

"Hyotei!"

"Hyotei!"

As Gakuto and Oshitari held expressions only somebody like Echizen Nanjiroh was allowed to wear, Eiji turned to stare at the girl who was rooted to the spot. "Tai-chan..."

Through the layers of her black bangs, strangely, he saw her grin. An evil grin.

_'I-it's...an _oni (1)_...'_

Eiji watched, terrified, as the girl looked up and started laughing to herself, arms loosely crossed around her stomach as though whatever appeared funny just got ten times more so. Oshitari raised an eyebrow while Gakuto looked almost disgusted.

"Did he lose himself...?" the blue-haired teen muttered, feeling disturbed while the girl's soft laughter ringing in the background.

"The pressure must have cracked him, yo."

Taiya's head snapped up and steely, almost totally different eyes met the other pairs. The flash of purple seemed dangerously vibrant. "Cracked? Scared?" She straightened up and flexed her wrist, racquet still in hand. "_Fuzakenna_ (2)."

"Tai-chan...?"

"I suddenly felt our hopes go up, Eiji. Doesn't it make you mad?" Taiya pulled a very un-Taiya-like smile. Without waiting for a response, Taiya faced Gakuto and Oshitari once more, smile slackening considerably. All who knew her took this as a sign of her becoming serious. "I'll explain later. Let's continue."

And so they did.

Taiya served and the rally began.

_Pak._

_Pak._

_Pak._

Ball sailing towards her, Taiya mounted her position.

_'A weak move, but I'll take this chance,' _she thought, grimacing. _'Add the reverse slice and...!' _Taiya flicked her wrist and hit the ball and Oshitari skidded in to return it. The ball hit the center before crawling up the strings and tossing over behind him.

"Ah, that's―!"

"The first move Taiya showed when she came to participate. That was against Taka-san," informed Fuji, smiling at the memory.

"_Kuroru_ (crawl)," said Taiya before she grinned.

Gakuto looked malicious, especially at the fact he didn't even respond to the move. Oshitari only smiled strangely at the challenge. "It seems something about us doesn't sit too well with this Sanzushi guy," he said, pushing up his glasses. He noticed Taiya's panting getting more frequent and drawn. "Let's up the level, shall we?"

"0-15!"

After a battle of _Kuroru_, acrobatics and _Higuma Otoshi's _fused in just a few rallies, Eiji cringed as he remembered the time he found out Oishi was not going to be his partner. He would be lying if he said playing with Taiya was the same. Sure, Taiya was his close friend, he reasoned inwardly as he almost ran into Taiya, who had appeared in front of him and taken a tricky shot while he was still in a daze. He tried to clear his head.

Taiya was his friend, but Oishi was his doubles partner. They triumphed over things which he had done with not many others, if any at all.

It just wasn't...

Eiji clenched his eyes, his hand gripping the handle of his racquet tightly.

_'Why aren't you here at a time like this, Oishi?!'_

"Tai!"

Eiji's head snapped up and he spun quickly to see an exhausted Taiya, collapsing to her knees with her arms beside her, supporting her. Head tilted back towards the sky, her breathing came out as ragged gasps. _'Shoot, what just...!' _

"30-15 (Hyotei-Seigaku)!"

"Dammit!" swore Taiya, clumsily picking herself up and wiping her forehead with her wristband. Seeing the two across the court merely throw her a rather haughty look could have in turn threw _her _into a spasm if not for the fact they were in an official inter-school match (she'd probably be carted off to an asylum). Her heartbeat was erratic; despite it being a doubles play, dodging Eiji and covering the court was more tiring than she had first anticipated. "Eiji! What's wrong?!" she asked, irritated at his lack of response. "Aren't we here to play for Oishi too?!"

Eiji's magnificent navy eyes widened slightly.

The accumulating sweat was made Taiya's shirt, which was not her usual sports wear, sticky and uncomfortable; the starch-crisp tailored shirt was clingy and restrictive ― she reprimanded herself for spilling orange juice on her Seigaku t-shirt the night before when she fell asleep at the dinner table. _'Was I born an idiot?' _thought the girl grimly.

Eiji looked over the girl with a pained expression as she got up and stood, ready to receive.

_'I totally forgot...what would Oishi say in this situation...?' _The ball was served and Taiya immediately made a dash for the ball.

The red-head blinked as the words hit him.

_"It's gonna be okay, Eiji. Come on, we'll take the game from back here." _

The confident smile that could break down all barriers of doubt...

_"Don't give up_. _If we don't give up, we'll definitely find a weakness. There has to be a chance somewhere."_

Words that could convince the most stubborn, pessimistic person on Earth...

_"Believe in our strength!"_

Along with the corniest line ever said...

Eiji's eyes snapped open; blue orbs that showed exactly what he needed to do flashed seriously.

_'Oishi!'_

-

Taiya cursed as the ball flew past her. _'Shit, I missed the...eh...?' _Taiya's train of thoughts seemed to follow her eyes at the flying form of Eiji, sailing past her and saving the ball. His form skidded on the ground, sand flying up in response to his weight. _'Ei...HOLY CHRIST!' _her mind screamed.

"Kikumaru-senpai!" came shocked voices.

_'That must have been some floor burn...' _gaped Taiya, visibly wincing.

Gakuto appeared in the red-heads line of vision in the air after a springy jump. "Don't give up yet!" he said in a jesting tone, "With this...it's over!" Gakuto smashed the ball. The ball flew straight to the left of Eiji but once again to people's surprise, he spun around and reacted quickly, intercepting the balls path.

"I won't let you!" The ball hit the edge of the net before dropping into their opponent's court.

"30 all!"

"Awesome," breathed Taiya, rotating to look at her friend. Her eyes expanded as she saw his trademark action when he was serious, the twirling of his racquet around his wrist, flexible and done with perfect concentration. Caught up with the moment, Taiya could only grin stupidly, a small flush on her face as the adrenaline pumped inside of her alogn with her fist in the air. _'Eiji looks so cool right now (3)! Alright, I guess this is the time we fight back!'_

_'Eiji...' _smiled Fuji from the stands.

"Eiji..." Taiya walked forwards, only a few paces from where the red-head stood. Just when she was about to open her mouth, Eiji cut her off.

"It's gonna bealright, Taichi." Taiya stopped and could literally feel her eyebrow rise by itself. "Don't give up. If we don't give up, we'll definitely find a weakness."

"Eiji...?" _'Are you...alright...?' _The red-head could feel sceptical eyes boring into him.

"There has to be a chance somewhere." Eiji spun around, a determined smile donned on his face as he held up his racquet. "Believe in our strength."

_'Uhhh...' _

Eiji wondered why Taiya was staring at him apprehensively.

"Uh...sure...Eiji," the girl said awkwardly, eyes shifting uncertainly.

Eiji let out a playful grin, tilting his head and assuring, "As if I'd say that!" He winked. "They're all Oishi's words!"

Taiya let out a relieved sigh and laughed, "Now _that's _more like the Eiji I know! You scared me before!" She grinned up at him, the earlier exertion she felt subsiding rapidly at the return of her best friend. "It sounds promising though!"

"Yeah, we're gonna aim higher and higher!"

_'Finally acting like a doubles pair, huh?' _thought Ryuzaki-sensei with a small smile. Fuji smiled as well. _'I believe they will take the game about now...Taiya looked angry enough to stab the other two with a spoon,' _he chuckled to himself as he glanced at the dumbfounded Oshitari and Gakuto, hand posed on his chin.

_'This will be interesting.'_

Taiya and Eiji did a manly thump with their fists. "It starts now, eh, Eiji?"

"_Unya_!" From a distance, Fuji saw the two of them grin, teeth gleaming. _'What the...'_

-

"Hey, that Seigaku formation...!"

"It's the Australian Formation!"

Taiya sweat-dropped to herself as she stood at the baseline, bouncing the yellow tennis ball firmly. _'It's no use; I can't even say the name of this formation _― _I'm really hopeless, aren't I?'_

At the front Eiji crouched in a perfect receiving posture, looking incredibly confident with the formation tactics; unlike Taiya, he had practice Doubles play for far longer (and with far better luck) than she had. Taiya decided to leave the leading on the actual doubles to him.

_'Here I go, Eiji!' _

Their plan worked out perfect, Taiya being able to hit the ball straight down the middle of Oshitari and Gakuto without giving a chance to return it after a series of confusing movements from both Eiji and herself. Taiya felt much, much happier (eviller, if that's a word).

"Returned! 30-40!

"Yes, Tai-chan, it's absolutely great!" chanted Eiji as he walked up, hand in the air. Taiya slapped it high in a victory high-five. She shot a subtle look to the other pair. _'Take that, punks!'_

Oshitari's eye twitched as he felt something very, very annoying coming from a certain Chinese player's side.

Again and again, they performed unexpected moves, Eiji soon displaying his acrobats at top-notch and Taiya finally re-living the results of her training.

The ball was lobbed into the air and she brought down her racquet for a planned smash. The sound of the rubber ball impacting with her racquet strings brought a smile to her lips.

_'Copying a genius does not necessarily make you a genius.'_

_- _

"That guy...just countered _Higuma Otoshi_!"

Fuji smiled as his team members gaped. _'More like foiled _― _she's got a bit of time before she can counter my counter.'_ Yes, Fuji Syusuke had his cocky moments.

Eiji gave a low whistle. "_Sugoi_, Tai-chan!" They thumped their fists together again triumphantly.

"How was that?"

"Yeah, carry on like this!" Eiji and Taiya flashed their toothpaste-ad smiles again, the gleam impossible to miss.

Meanwhile Oshitari's eyes wavered, looking disbelieving. "As if that could..." He saw from the corner of his eyes Taiya straighten and flash him a victory sign with her fingers; the smile on her face was, in short, annoying. A split-second intercept from her with some timely techniques had forced Oshitari's _Higuma Otoshi_ into an unsuccessful and weak lob. Straining her muscles to their limit, she delivered a finishing smash, its speed raising fascinated whispers among the crowd.

"How...from a bean like him..."

"The 8th wonder of the tennis world..."

_'I worked 5 hours a day 6 days a week with heavier weights just for this!'_ Taiya voiced out tauntingly, "You underestimated me (because of my size!), right? I've been a victim to that move for _two__straight_weeks." The emphasis in her voice was hard to miss.

Then the Chinese-Japanese's expression suddenly became dark as she chuckled in a very un-normal way.

"I've been subjected to the presence of that Fuji Syusuke for _how long_, now? Almost 4 months? I can't quite remember, _mu ha ha ha_!"

"T-Tai-chan..." said Eiji nervously as Taiya was engulfed with a black aura.

"You can't beat me with imitated moves...not from Seigaku's _tensai_." With newly-acquired, unshakable confidence, Taiya smirked back at them (and Fuji felt flattered as he watched them). "We're not going to let you guys get another point," she drawled slowly, a lopsided grin on her face.

-

"Yeah, keep it up!"

"Go, Momoshiro-senpai! Sanzushi-senpai!"

"They're awesome now, aren't they?!"

"Yeah, it's like they totally understand each others intentions!"

Everybody was forced in to silent awe as Eiji hit a perfect imitation of Moon Volley, earning their second game. It was currently **4 games to 2**. Soon, everyone on the court was going all out; their pride was on the line and nobody was going to give up on it.

_'My tattered pride has been ruined by Fuji countless numbers of times so I _have _to save it no matter what!' _screamed Taiya's mind as she agreed solemnly to herself.

_'That beat sprouts moves have suddenly got better,' _frowned Oshitari. _'I have to do something...!'_ He let out a small gasp as Taiya hit a shot towards his dominant hand. By reflex, he just responded enough for the ball to bounce off and pass as a volley. _'Shit!'_

Taiya sped forward and jumped, feeling the wind tousle through her hair. She delivered a smash. "Yes!" she cheered to herself.

"Game, Seigaku! 4-3 (Hyotei-Seigaku)."

"_Yosh_!" Eiji and Taiya high-fived again. Taiya grinned across to him. "Lookin' good, Eiji!"

Eiji winked. "He he, not too bad yourself, Tai-chan!"

They turned simultaneously to face the Oshitari-Gakuto pair, who were preparing to serve after they changed courts.

"Let's wrap it up," they both said together.

-

"Game, Seigaku, **5 games to 4**."

"One more game and it's their win, right?"

Taiya wiped the sweat from her brow with her wristband, exhaling deeply. Eiji and her slapped each other a quick high-five.

"Great job," complimented Taiya with a playful smile.

Eiji smiled confidently, "We'll do it. We'll crush them with this pace."

"Of course!"

"Muhaki-kun is losing his energy while Kikumaru-kun has been preserving his energy, enabling him to exceed his acrobatic play," said the reporter Inoue, giving a quick commentary. "This is possible since Sanzushi-kun covers for him until he gets his energy back. Both of them are not high on stamina, so it's a good way to support each other - especially with their speed."

"Amazing! Kikumaru-kun and Sanzushi-kun are so mature!" said Shiba delightfully.

_Pak_

_Pak_

_Pak_

"40 love!"

_'Finally...' _thought Taiya.

_'Match point,' _smiled Eiji to himself, steadying down his beating heart. He cast a glance towards the girl, who appeared exhausted. _'Hold on, Tai-chan - just one last point.'_

The last point was achieved and the Seigaku supporters erupted into applause. The noise around them was tremendous, and Taiya tried to remember the last time she ever felt so exhilarated.

"YES! _Yatta zo_!" cheered Taiya, pumping a sweaty fist into the air. She felt Eiji's arm slide across her shoulder and she mimicked him and the two, shooting each other equally glorious grins, jumped up, celebrating their victory. Taiya felt herself prancing around stupidly on the court with the hyperactive red-head, all dignity forgotten.

"Yay! _Banzai! Banzai!_"

Chest swelled with personal pride, Taiya's eye caught Eiji's and felt her stomach stir as his face, usually cheeky and naively bright, suddenly appeared very mature and understanding. Taiya wondered why she felt the way she did before they both went to the middle and shook hands with the other team. No words were exchanged.

"We won, Taiya."

Taiya glanced at the acrobat before nodding solemnly, finally feeling the exhaustion claim her body.

"Yeah…we won, Eiji."

-

**A/N – **Sorry for the delay. -.- And sorry for a crappy tennis-filled chapter. I am typing the 10th chap if anybody wants it, and the games will be over halfway through it, and hopefully something interesting too will happen.

I don't mind if you don't comment on THIS chapter; it was so sucky I don't think it deserves it. Haha xD.

Bye bye!

(Check profile page for news about updates : I'm actually updating that page now)

Definitions:

(1) : Oni is equal to a demon.

(2) : _Fuzakenna _(ふざけんな) is a very rough way of expressing something along the lines of _don't mess around with me_. I added the Japanese because it's cultural emphasis seemed a lot cooler than the English _don't mess around with me_, if anybody understands that.

(3) : This doesn't necessarily mean she finds him attractive or anything. In Japanese, it's something along the lines of 今英二かっこいいすぎる！which literally translates as "Now Eiji is too cool" (or "awesome" if you want to be more _hip _about it all --). Just a statement.

In case somebody doesn't know the suffix "_-hime_", _hime _literally means _princess_ in Japanese. So, in this case, Taiya had called Fuji "Princess Fuji".


	10. For the Sake of Goals: Sunrise

Hopefully this chapter is more fun; I tried rereading my old chapters of Himitsu (a painful task) and attempted to copy the old style of writing I used. Hard, I must say.

Note that anything with a (-) sign next to it means there will be a reference at the end of the chapter in the Authors Note section, but it isn't compulsory: just used to indicate there may be something there to get confused about.

Enjoy! (_Gomenasai!_)

* * *

Memories of a ... Cross-dressing Tennis Player

"...so the electronic configuration would be..."

It was not unusual to see Sanzushi Taiya at 9:00am doing homework or studying, with the ever-imposing fear known as 'mum' as the sole reason. Saturday, usually a school day for Seishun students, was given a day off due to a school board conference and so Taiya took the chance to catch up on her homework and—hopefully later—her tennis training.

But it was difficult to concentrate on the task at hand, not when the newly-received letter and the brilliant Hyotei games kept returning to her head like that flaming migraine she had at the moment. Taiya had to remind herself that she was no longer in top condition and had warnings from her last check up to not over-exert herself. When she did during training, she felt the familiar pull of muscle and light-headedness that she experienced at the St. Rudolph's game some time ago.

'_Science-wise, the dizziness could be due to blood flow to the head…' _

The sudden image of her father bathed in white flashed into her mind and she shook away negative thoughts.

_'I have more important things to think about...' _Taiya visibly cringed. _'I'm sorry...dad.'_

From her aimlessly chasing the backs of her father and older brother, the realization if how empty her reasoning for her coming to Japan had disturbed Taiya the day before. When she repeated it to herself, it had been amazing how _stupid _it all seemed.

_'Compared to Momoshiro, Echizen-kun, Oishi, Eiji, Fuji...and Tezuka-buchou...'_

-

_"That match was spectacular, _buchou_..." she muttered as she sprayed his shoulder with cooling spray._

_"...Thank you," he replied honestly, closing his eyes._

_She paused and seemed to struggle for a second before blurting out in an untertone, "I was inspired at the match. Not many could have...well, _I_ could have never been able to do something like that..." She trailed off. For the first time it seemed, Tezuka gave a small smile at her._

_"I wonder." _

_Her eyes widened a little in confusion. _

_Tezuka winced a little as she rubbed a part of his shoulder tenderly to relieve the stiffness. "When we have goals on the line..."_

_"_H-hai_...?"_

_"When there is a team trying their best for the same dream...it would be selfish of me to not do my best as well."_

_"Te...zuka...?" The look he gave her was strange, as though expectant. _

_"We all love tennis...and that's why we play. _

_Isn't it the same with all of us?"_

_-_

Despite feeling privileged that Tezuka had spoken that much—to her nonetheless—she couldn't help but feel..._ashamed. _Tezuka's determination and awe-inspiring story from his younger years made her feel like she didn't live up to anything worth mentioning, not beside _his _feats.

_'Sometimes I just think...why the Hell am I here...? No, I'm here to prove that I can be just as good at bro and dad...that I'm not just some useless...ugly tag-along...'_

Her eyes darkened considerably. The image of her old elementary and middle school, Sheng Xin, appeared clearly in her mind.

_"You think you can speak up to _us_ when you can't even do anything but study?" _echoed a sceptical voice

Taiya stiffened before hastily proceeding to drink some tea in attempt to calm herself. Okay, so flashbacks _do _exist...

_"Get real, your dad and older brother may be big shots but it's no use hiding in _their _shadows," _came another familiar voice of someone unpleasant.

_"You can complain after you beat me, like the star you are (1)," _was the last sneer that reverberated inside her head before she slapped her forehead, hard.

_'Think of what bro said...think, think, think...!'_

A memory with a young girl—rounded and chubby, sitting defiantly on the chair but looking downcast—and an older boy who was lean, tall and rather good-looking resurfaced.

_"Taiya...Tai-chan...I know what's been happening at school…but there's nothing wrong with not playing tennis. Just…focus on your studies; mum will be happy with that.'_

Taiya licked her lips slowly, the words echoing in her mind: yeah, like they were really the words she need to hear at the moment. The senses of being utterly, utterly tactless to her team-mates made her feel awful.

_'Is my reason for playing the sport everybody loves..._that _shallow...? Where it's just my selfish reason to prove myself against something of the past_—_'_

The vibrant ringing of her phone jolted her out of her thoughts and possible self-mental-abuse. She hurriedly picked it up, flipping it open before automatically speaking, "_Moshi moshi_?"

She blinked.

"Eiji?"

---

As Fuji Syusuke mused in his room and his sister bustled around in the house vacuuming, a faint frown crossed his delicate features.

_'Tezuka...' _

The Hyotei matches were not difficult (or at least his match wasn't) but seeing his captain struggle endlessly against Atobe was a good reminder for him to challenge Tezuka when his shoulder healed again. It was a match worth waiting for.

But with Tezuka in that condition...

Fuji's instincts were sharp but he sincerely hoped he was wrong now.

_'To think of Tezuka _not _being able to play...' _

It felt like someone physically wounded him. Tezuka must have had it bad.

Fuji's hand moved up to tousle his hair but stopped just as his fingers brushed against his forehead. For one, he _never _tousled his hair like that; either Eiji or Taiya helped him. For the second part, it was one of Taiya's trademark actions as of late with her hair-do being cut short like the average guy. He never would have known he would pick up one of _her _habits.

"Gosh, Taiya's really rubbing off on me, huh..."

When he thought of the said girl, he was reminded of the look she had given their captain after the match as she helped with first aid for his shoulder, conversing with him in an undertone as she did. It was bizarre enough that Tezuka exchanged more than 3 sentences, but when Taiya had that deep form of..._respect _shown in her eyes, it really unnerved the proclaimed genius

_'And we didn't discuss the match on the way back...' _he recalled, unaware of the slight disappointment in his voice.

Their traditional after-game discussion, held in the return bus back home, kept them occupied all the way back as they conversed in detail of each outstanding match. He had to admit how enjoyable it was as both of them held a great amount of knowledge in the said game:

Taiya must have really taken tennis seriously, he had thought. To the point where she had even argued theories with physics involved.

_'Well there goes the science freak for you,' _he mused inwardly as he remembered the half-Japanese doing a very good impression of Inui and calculating the curve, power and acceleration of the ball with physics formulas, blabbering about derivatives and what-not (Eiji never really looked at Taiya the same since).

Still, seeing the girl look at Tezuka as though he became her _religion _or something was...weird.

_'Well, that girl has always been weird: who else gets the kanji for 'win' and 'kill' mixed up nowadays?'_

Fuji chuckled to himself unbeknownst to the slight grimace on the edge of his lips.

"Syusuke~!" came Yumiko's voice from downstairs. His eyes fluttered a little as they opened.

"Yes?" he called back, getting up from his chair and walking outside.

"Can you please call Taiya-chan for me? I fancy a chat with her." She had been doing that as of late, calling Taiya over to have some company.

"_Hai_. I'll be back soon," he said, already at the door slipping on his sneakers.

_'I guess I don't mind having a chat with her neither.'_

---

"Eiji!"

Kikumaru Eiji turned and saw the approaching form of—no _way_!—a _girl _with short hair. From the looks of the familiar black hair—limp on the girls head in thick, straight layers—down to the white sneakers, bright-orange cargo shorts and blindingly white T-shirt, he deduced it was, indeed, Sanzushi Taiya.

Even if she _did _look like a girl, a rare sight for all. But it was astounding to Eiji how small and..._cute _she could look as her claimed gender (Taiya: -twitch-), with her pale-amethyst eyes complimenting her dark-purple-and-white striped suspenders which clipped onto her shorts and crossed over her shoulders. A pale-grey scrawl in English was sewn on the front of her shirt.

"Tai-chan, glad you could meet up with me," he started off, beaming. The colours of her attire were astoundingly distracting.

The girl returned the gesture casually. "Sure thing; you don't often call up, so it's usually Fuji who's my play mate," she joked, giving a very boy-ish lopsided grin—one which Eiji couldn't help but chuckle at in his childish voice; it was funny how accustomed she had grown to her whole gender-bender situation.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nah, just a passing thought. So, about today," he said promptly, clapping his hands together as he did.

"Yeah…so what's up?" Taiya had a weird feeling about the whole thing.

"Tai-chan," started Eiji with a grin on his face along with his cheeky winks, "Come on a date with me, ne?"

---

_'Weird...' _

Sanzushi Taiya, study and tennis freak, not being either home or the tennis courts was a call for concern. Aiki-san wasn't home neither, most likely due to her modelling work—something he took notice that she had obvious talent in.

_'Although she may be out with Aiki-san together...in that case I shouldn't disturb them.'_

But we all know how unlikely it is for Taiya to go anywhere with Aiki as just a fun-day trip. Even Fuji knew where Aiki's hobbies lay—a place too far away from Taiya's own.

_'Maybe I should e-mail her (-)? I'm sure _nee-san_ won't mind the company a little late.' _

His fingers began to press buttons swiftly. The text merely asked where she was and if she could come over later. Not a moment later, a reply was received and he clicked it open.

_-On a date with Eiji~ _

_won't be back 'til late_

_see you later, Fuji-kins~_

Fuji stared at the text.

He let out a deep sigh before feeling himself pull a disgruntled face.

_'Tell me that was a prank.'_

---

"_N-meee~_! (2)! Nothing better than a cold drink on a hot day, ne, Eiji?"

As he handed back her things, Eiji sniggered to himself at the thought of Fuji's reaction to his text. Gosh he was amazed at his own courage sometimes: openly challenging Fuji Syusuke could get you tortured.

Taiya suddenly shoved the slurpie she just bought near his face, the straw almost poking out his eye. "Want some?"

Eiji blinked and grinned, proceeding to take the drink before adolescent thoughts screamed inside of his head, shouting, _'ISN'T THAT SOMETHING LIKE AN INDIRECT KISS?!'_ At the sight of Eiji's sudden stillness, Taiya merely jingled the cup a little.

"It tastes good," urged Taiya, unaware of what sort of dilemma was going through poor Eiji at the moment.

Hesitantly, he took the cup and took a slurp from the straw.

_'It does taste good_—_'_

"Don't tell me you thought it's something stupid like one of those indirect kisses or anything?" Taiya said bluntly.

The slurpie promptly flew out of his mouth and he started gagging.

"Ah shit, I was joking, Eiji! Are you okay?!"

_'Man, this girl is too straightforward,' _thought Eiji with a sweat-drop, hand massaging his throat as Taiya handed him some tissues. Taiya ceased her chuckles and patted him on the back.

"I was joking, sheesh, Eiji. It doesn't count unless it's mouth-to-mouth, no?"

Suddenly she recalled the whole homo-homo incident merely weeks ago: Taiya visibly shuddered.

_'To think my lips brushed against the side of his, Fuji Genius Syusuke's, mouth...' _the girl thought with another visible face-fault. _'God, that was awkward to the extreme. But I never minded casual kisses on the cheek between friends back in China with the rest_—_maybe 'cause it's just Fuji; Fuji is _so _creepy and weird that it's not funny.'_

Time certainly felt warped as she recalled she had only been in Japan for a little over 4 months. It felt like she had known her team-mates for a while year.

"Tai-chan, Tai-chan, we're here!"

Taiya blinked and before she knew it there was a large house in front of her, double-stories like Fuji and her own residence.

"This is your..."

"Yep! My house! Come on, come on!"

Eiji linked his arm with hers and dragged her beyond the steel-white gates excitedly.

"You've never been to my house before and my family wanted to meet you! It's _soo _mean that you haven't even planned to visit in our long time knowing each other!"

"Sheesh, Eiji, it hasn't been even 5 months—"

"I don't care about the details!" he whined childishly. Taiya couldn't help but stifle a laugh, staring at him in amusement.

"You big kid..."

Eiji practically waltzed inside his house, rummaged in his cargoes for his keys before unlocking the door and entering, Taiya in tow.

They were immediately greeted by a young woman at the kitchen sink.

"_Ara_? Ei-chan (Taiya stifled a laugh at the name and earned herself a jab in the ribs), this is...?" the woman started, cleaning off her hands and walking over, staring curiously at the two of them. Taiya noticed the distinguishing feature of Eiji's famed red-hair, the exact same flamboyant colour to the shade, resting on the woman's shoulders.

"_Kaa-chan_, I'm back!"

---

_On a date with Eiji~_

_Teehee~_

_Rabu rabu~ (Love love)_

Fuji visibly face-faulted at his imagination gone wild.

_'That sort of Taiya...I do _not _want to ever meet.'_

Fuji dismissed the text, knowing that most like Eiji had the girl's phone at the time and sent it—for one, the text was written in semi-formal _girly _Japanese, the sort of Japanese Taiya only used on special occasions. In front of friends and team-mates though, her masculinity with words did not cease to amaze him (_"bukkoroshite yaru zo, kono yarou!" (--)_)

_'Date...never would have though _the _Sanzushi Taiya would agree to something like that without a fuss...' _

An unknown sort of inward conflict erupted from practically nowhere as he debated several different scenarios in his head.

'_She gets along with everyone else pretty fine—heck, Momo and Ryoma are almost sibling-like around her. Maybe it's my reserved privilege to face Taiya at her wit's end.'_

The _tensai _chuckled sadistically. Yes, it was _his _reserved privilege indeed since it was mostly him who caused her to fall into incomparable rage.

He suddenly felt like pranking someone before paying her a visit.

---

"Hoi! So this is Tai-chan, _kaa-chan_; she's from the tennis club too! You know the cross-dressing— oof!"

Taiya smiled innocently as now Eiji rubbed his ribs.

"I never hit you _that _hard..." he muttered sulkily.

"Oh really, my mistake; hohoho..."

At the sight of Eiji's mum's confused smile, Taiya cleared her throat and introduced herself.

Taiya's gentlemanly, perfect, gorgeous win-over-any-girl smile: activate.

"This is our first meeting I recall: Good morning, Kikumaru-san; my name is Sanzushi Taiya. It's a pleasure to meet you." Taiya tipped her head in a respectful bow.

"_Ara_!" gushed Eiji's mum, looking almost flustered, "I never knew Eiji could pick up another friend that was so polite! And a girl too!" Taiya immediately knew the other candidates were most likely Fuji, Oishi and Tezuka; it was almost an unwritten law. "How do you do? I am Eiji's mother, Matsuko: you can call me Matsu for short if you'd like. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Taiya-chan."

The girl blinked at the _-chan _suffix to her name before smiling warmly. "The pleasure is all mine, Matsu-san. And Eiji," he voice suddenly dripping with undiluted venom, "What's up with your laughing, may I ask?"

"O-oh no, n-nothing, Tai-chan," Eiji tried to reason, trying to suppress his laughs, "It's just the way you—"

"EIJI!"

A couple of doors slammed and not long after, 3 bodies tumbled down to the foot of the stairs clumsily while Eiji's mother scolded them, "_Mou_, can't you regain a little composure in front of a guest? All of you are too hasty!"

"Well _duh, _how long do you think it's been since Eiji brought a girl home?" shouted the one boy, grinning lopsidedly as he untangled himself from his brother.

"Yeah, I was starting to question his preference," said the other boy straight-forwardly. Taiya cast a long, questioning glance to Eiji and he merely held up his hand in defence.

"Ei-chan, Ei-chan, where is she?!" chirped the only female in the group.

Simultaneously it seemed, they all turned in the direction of Taiya, standing there like a deer caught in headlights. Their eyes bore painfully into Taiya's own, dark-blue with purple.

"_D-doumo_." She raised a hand in greeting, a nervous grin in place and a sweat-drop sliding down her temple—totally unaware of the slight masculinity of her earlier words.

Silence followed.

The first boy who had shouted slid over to Eiji Michael Jackson style, hooked an arm around him and dragged him away before whispering, "Is that pretty boy really a girl?"

Eiji promptly burst out laughing.

---

"Hey Eiji, sorry for the abrupt...wha?"

Fuji stood in front of the Kikumaru household's lounge room only to see Eiichi, Eiji's high-school-freshman older brother, sprawled on top of Taiya in a very awkward position. The others seem to be in fits of laughter though for what reason the sadist couldn't identify.

From under the mass of legs and arms a shakily-raised thumbs-up and a muffled voice caught his attention.

"Yohh, Foohjii: helpsh meee!"

Then a Twister mat was discernable from underneath.

---

"_Eto..._" Fuji's nervous smile faltered slightly as an exhausted Taiya strode besides him, arms heavy.

"My back…" she groaned.

"Eiichi-nii and Tai-chan were having a showdown," Eiji merely stated as he explained how after an introduction to his family came the battle of the sexes between Eiichi and Taiya; the said girl had enough of being regarded as a pretty-boy and was determined to beat out an apology. "But Tai-chan sure was amazing!"

Through the walk back to the Fuji and Sanzushi residence, Fuji had the privilege of listening to a blow-by-blow recount of how Taiya totally dominated majority of the game-stations in the house and became the new game rival for Eiichi. Apparently even Yugito, the 20-year old brother, had taken up another furious game of Tekken and lost by a margin. Taiya openly laughed at some exaggerated recounts, appearing to have enjoyed mixing around with new people even if they were guys. Again her disregard for gender sometimes amazed Fuji.

"It was fun, you should try, Fuji," grinned Taiya as she stared at him, purple eyes mischievous. "I'll verse ya."

"Hmm, I have to say video games aren't my continual hobbies," the fair-haired genius admitted, "But I guess I have a job at knocking Taiya off her pedestal in games."

"Unfortunately, Fuji, gaming is one thing I am confident about!" declared the girl, jumping up to her feet. "Well, apart from tennis, of course. Do mind that the confidence drops a bit when I face you, Fuji."

"So, Tai-chan, how'd you like the others?!" chirped the red-head as he bounced along to walk beside her. "Eiichi-nii seemed to like you." This perked a pair of ears.

Taiya's undisturbed laugh bothered Fuji. "Yeah, he was cool! Your family's so lively, it's great. It really reminds me of—SWEET _KAMI-SAMA_ I TOTALLY FORGOT!"

Eiji and Fuji stared at the suddenly halting Taiya, a little scared at her display of emotion.

"W-what happened?" Eiji bravely voice out.

Taiya turned a face to them as though contemplating something, before shaking her head a little. "Nothing…big, I guess. Let's just say a letter from my China friend just resurfaced to my head and…oh, we're home! Thanks, Eiji, for today; it was really fun!"

"No problemo! See you on Monday, Eiji, Tai-chan! Be prepared for Tezuka's extreme training, ne!"

"Thanks for walking us back," said Fuji humbly as Eiji turned back and walked away. "Oh, Taiya, _nee-san _wonders if you could come over for some company…if you can manage it," he added seeing Taiya's slight hunching back. She merely grinned and nodded.

Yumiko's beautiful visage seemed to increase when she saw Taiya, looking more like a girl. She smiled at Fuji's expression (which he twitched at) and led Taiya to her room.

"Ne, Yumiko-san, it's been a while, hasn't it?" she started off, politely seating herself on the offered chair in Yumiko's room.

"Yes…Taiya-chan, actually there's something I want to try again with you," she started slowly and, spotting Taiya's horrified face, quickly added, "Not make-up, I assure!"

"Oh, okay."

"I did some tarot reading again and…I'd just like you to have another try. Just for confirmation." Seeing Yumiko look a little uncomfortable was more than enough to make Taiya comply without question, though she couldn't hide her own discomfort. With how accurate Yumiko's tarot reading was, it sure was a call for concern when Yumiko didn't have the trademark Fuji-household smile.

After a few minutes of picking cards and sticks and what-not, Yumiko finally sighed.

"Shadows, as you know, represent something unknown. Altogether, I can deduce that…well, Taiya-chan, just be on alert for anything out of the ordinary. There seems to be…big obstacles waiting ahead. Something just might take you for surprise soon."

Taiya didn't know how to react.

---

Standing around with the others, dressed in casual pale-grey cargoes and a white, sleeveless hoodie (with what appeared to be a huge _Tarepanda _on the front), Taiya searched the grounds for Oishi, the one who had told the Regulars to all meet up at the park just opposite some strip-shopping centres. The wind brushed against her toned arms but she paid no heed, merely shifting her sling-bag more comfortably against her hip.

"So, what does Oishi-senpai want to talk about?" said Ryoma, Ponta in hand.

"Who knows, whatever it is…"

"What, so Eiji doesn't know either?"

"Taka-san?"

"Nope, I don't know either."

"Tezuka, do you know anything about it?" asked Fuji, leaning against a brick pillar. Tezuka, on another face of the pillar, merely responded negative.

"Everyone gathers without knowing anything?" said Ryoma with muted disbelief. Taiya merely nodded in agreement to his weird look and the two just shook their heads at their new team-mates; being new sure had its disadvantages.

"Heeey! Sorry, sorry!" Oishi ran down shouldering a large pack, waving towards them as he came. He, like the others, was dressed in casual clothes. After several more apologies and complaints (from Eiji), Fuji finally helped asked what the occasion was.

"We are all going to go mountain climbing."

"Eh?!"

"Now?!"

"We are all going to watch the sun-rise together! Everyone, together. I'm sure it'll be great!" Upon various stony-faced expressions, Oishi frowned. "What's wrong, guys?"

"Ah, it's what I thought it'd be for you to call us in such a hurry."

"Are you serious?"

"Sometimes you should be in young-and-burning mode…"

"What are you gonna do, Echizen?" Momoshiro whispered to the referred boy.

"I'll pass."

"What? None of you wants to go?!" said Oishi with blatant disappointment. After a condemning silence, Taiya and Fuji spoke up simultaneously.

"I think it'll be good." Along with Oishi's blink came their own as Fuji and Taiya shot surprised glances at each other. Then they broke out into a smile.

"I've never seen a sunrise from the mountaintop anyway," he said.

"Ah, me neither."

"Speaking of which, neither have I…"

"Hehe, I've never been to a mountaintop," Taiya sheepishly admitted while Fuji chuckled. As they started to reconsider, Taiya continued, "It was a shame that Oishi wasn't able to participate in the Hyotei games…and facing the second half of the Kantou tournament, I think it's good to build a high morale!" As she finished she stumbled as Eiji latched onto her shoulders from behind.

"_Yosh, _it's decided! We're all going mountain climbing!" The three youngest players merely sighed in defeat.

"Alright, let's go mountain climbing!" cheered Oishi.

"_Ou!_"

On the train, playing poker with the group was fun, with unexpected results.

"One pair…"

"I got two pair…"

"A straight."

Fuji smiled. "Full house."

"Whoa, as expected of Fuji to wipe out my straight with his full house," said Taiya, playfully wincing. "What about you, Tezuka?"

He shifted his cards down. "Royal straight flush."

"Ehhh?!"

"Sweet _kami_!"

"Heh heh, I just can't beat Tezuka," said Fuji sheepishly and Taiya broke out into chuckles at the seemingly perfect _tensai _losing (for once).

The trekking later on after they had gotten off the train was more tedious than usual training, and Taiya inwardly congratulated herself for not wearing a long-sleeve, as it was getting strangely stuffy. Only after considerable time did Oishi proclaim that they were almost at the peak. Taiya's excitement was acting up again as she hurried her pace until she was striding alongside Tezuka.

Upon arrival at the peak, they all saw the obscuring clouds hiding the sky. "Can we see the sunrise with all these clouds?" commented Eiji.

"Yeah…there's 5 more minutes until dawn."

And so they waited, and with baited silence, the sun….rose. Unexpectedly (not).

"The sunrise…"

"It's the sunrise…" said Taiya intelligently, staring dumbly.

"The sunrise…it's the sunrise, guys!"

As Oishi and Eiji cheered, Taiya felt a tug pulling at her lips before she flopped down to the ground, exhausted. _'This is the first time we've been out somewhere as a group…excluding Taka-san's place.' _A warm sensation flooded Taiya's insides and she sighed, merely admiring the view. The warm glow enveloped her and she embraced its comforting presence.

'_But by the end of December….I'll have to go back.' _The warm sensation before was replaced with a heavy, indescribable feeling. _'I'll have to go back to China after this year.'_

Taiya, after some time, distinguished the feeling.

'_I…don't want to go back like that…I…'_

Taiya was shaken out of her thoughts by a flash. She turned to see Fuji, his trademark smile on his face and his despicable camera that she loathed in hand (so much blackmail). "Taiya-chan, you should not keep to yourself on such a nice day like this. _Sa_, come on up and enjoy it with everyone!" Before she could protest, he had grabbed her hand and pulled her up towards an encouraging Eiji and a hyper-active Momoshiro.

It was then that Taiya received her first casual group picture of her with her team-mates, with a smiling Fuji and disgruntled Ryoma beside her.

---

"If you go, it'll be a fair while."

A painful silence followed as the referred boy sat opposite his tennis coach in apparent deep thought. A flicker of unseen emotions crossed his face and he sighed. He softly replied and Ryuzaki-sensei merely nodded in understanding.

"I understand…now all that's left is to tell the others."

Tezuka recollected memories of the past 4 and a half months with a neutral expression: the start of the newly formed team with two new faces, the intensive training, the disruptive but funny jokes, and how the team persevered into the Kantou tournament. Faces of his team mates flashed into memory.

This decision was as much for them as it was for him.

"_Hai_."

---

"_There seems to be…big obstacles waiting ahead. Something just might take you for surprise soon."_

"You're kidding me…Fuji, that's not a joke, is it?" But she knew Fuji was serious as his eyes were wide open and held a myriad of emotions which were new to her.

"_Aa_. Tezuka….he's going to Germany. He won't be in the upcoming matches."

'_This…is taking me _more _than just _surprise_.'_

Taiya then let out a withdrawn sigh, her longest yet, before Fuji sat next to her and comforted her with his presence. Taiya spoke again, chuckling to herself

"This…is _so _messed up."

* * *

**A/N – THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO STILL READS (FOR REASONS UNKNOWN TO ME) AND REVIEWS. You guys are too amazing. T.T **

Well, in case you're confused as to why Taiya can be just as shocked as the others to Tezuka's soon-to-come absence, all I can say is that he had recently played a bigger role in her tennis-ing aspirations than just her aimless chasing of her family's shadows, and had become her friend (usually during unwritten library scenes with the two of them studying).

This was a really random chapter.

**Review?**

**Okay, I know it's ME that's supposed to be writing ideas and stuff, but after my Prince of Tennis obsession blew over for a while (along with my halt in writing), I have run dry! Please, send suggestions! Writers block hurts right now!**

Anyway…

Might do an Omake before the next chap…

Ja ne

**

* * *

**

Terms and Other Stuff:

(1): When it said _like the star you are_, it's a mockery of her name (the stupidest name ever xD), which has the character "star" in it. 星

(-): E-mailing is also known as, in Australia, text messaging. I notice that Japanese often refer to text as an e-mail (or mail), something which became a slight confusion in my conversation with my Japanese friend where I asked for her email and she gave me a telephone number.

(2): A guyish way of saying something along the lines of 'good' - in this case, 'tasty'. Sometimes it's _umai _or something, but in a manga I read, they wrote んまい and not うまい

(--): _Bukkoroshiteyaru zo! - _ぶっ殺してやるぞ, この野郎！. _Bukkaroshite yaru_ is something along the lines of "I'll beat you to death" or simply "I'll kill you" and the "_zo_" at the end is just how people _kono yarou_ (in kanji)...well most of you get the idea of that ^^. It's very aggressive and masculine. ^_^


	11. Omakes 2, 3, 4!

A random batch of these if you want...

* * *

[Omake 2]: _The Kanji of Taiya's Japanese Name..._

_

* * *

  
_

An 'important' revelation about Taiya's name...

"Taiya, do you have a Kanji name, or is it always written in Katakana?"

"Katakana, quite sure. What's your point?"

"You...have an interesting name...." Fuji said slowly (and was it her or was he trying not to laugh?). He turned away from her.

_".....Transport Tyre._"

Taiya froze in realization while Momoshiro and Eiji promptly burst out laughing.

-

A few door slams and bangs and then....

"MUM! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GIVE ME SUCH WEIRD-ASS NAMES?! FIRST 'STAR FLOWER'―I don't think I have to explain _that_!―THEN 'TAIYA'―-'TYRE'?! _TYRE_?!"

Her mother stared, bewildered. The followed her team-mates reactions.

"I think you're missing something, Taiy"―she broke out into suppressed giggles―"Taiya."

"Yeah, maybe a _decent name_," Taiya replied sarcastically.

Aiki quickly wrote something on a piece of paper.

And Taiya face-faulted.

-

Taiya shoved a piece of paper in front of Fuji's nose.

(太夜)

"There, that's my actual name. Now shut up about it!"

Walking down the hallways with people imitating anything to _do _with a tyre grated her nerves. If she heard even _one _more car-beep call....

Fuji merely smiled that smile she loathed. "Oh get a _grip _on yourself, Taiy―"

"Shut up, you!"

"―and don't _stretch _yourself to your limits―"

"_Shut up, _I said!"

"―hoi, Tai-chan's wearing thin like a―"

"AND DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT FINISHING _THAT _SENTENCE, KIKUMARU EIJI!"

Fuji and Eiji grinned.

Yep, they were going to have an interesting last year of Middle school indeed...

* * *

[Omake 3]: _How Fuji Syusuke wards people off his precious sister and Sanzushi Taiya..._

_

* * *

  
_

As Taiya, still with long hair, and Yumiko went to look at some stores, Fuji spies another staring pair...

A random guy nudged his friend.

"Hey, check it out."

His friend whistles appreciatively.

"The brunette's a babe."

"And the black-haired foreigner's pretty cute too."

Before they took even two steps towards the pair of oblivious girls, Fuji appears behind them with his trademark clown-like smile.

"Yes, quite pretty I admit," he says smoothly.

"...Too bad they're boys."

Eying the skirt and skinny jeans, the two random strangers were scarred for life and ceased pursuing any random girl with half-decent looks.

The world sure was a scary place.

Meanwhile, Fuji Syusuke smiled in victory to himself, pretending to dust his shoulders.

"My job is done."

* * *

[Omake 4]: _'Mimi'_

_

* * *

  
_

Behind the school grounds underneath a breezy sakura tree....

"_A-ano_....Taichi-senpai..."

The curly brunette girl fidgeted and Taiya felt incoming dread. She had found a note in her shoe locker requesting a one-to-one meeting.

"Yes?"

"_A-ano_, w-well, I've liked you ever since I s-saw your doubles match (Taiya: _'Oh shit, _no!_'_) against H-hyotei _Gakuen _and, um―!"

The sweet little fan-girl looked like she was going to provide live evidence of human spontaneous combustion.

"Please go out with me!"

Taiya froze comically like a statue. A swirl of leaves blew past.

"U-um, Taichi...senpai?"

Fuji and Eiji dived in to the rescue out of nowhere.

"Ah, there you are, Tai!"

"Been looking _everywhere _for you!"

As Eiji slung one arm around Taiya (still frozen) and dragged her off, Fuji turned to the girl and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry but you see, Taichi is absolutely _speechless _and _heartbroken _to have to say this, but he already has a girlfriend, by the name of, uh―"

"Mimi!" shouted Eiji from a distance.

"Ah, yes, Mimi-chan, that's it." The girl looked crestfallen. "Yes," Fuji sighed (rather dramatically if I may say so) "they are _horribly _in love―my, it's hard to get him to shut up about her actually―they met 3 months ago at the ice cream parlour and then he said..."

-

"Fuji?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

Staring at the group of fan-girls who had interrogated her at lunch, Taiya turned to him, confused:

"....who's Mimi-chan?"

--

**A/N - **My sense of humour really is drying out. Really random side-stories to fill up space and time -.- This is kind of OOC I reckon. I must get in touch with their personalities again. Will re-watch eps soon.

Anyways, greetings for the New Year to everyone (and have I mentioned I turned 16? ^^ I feel extremely stupid as to the fact I haven't completed this story which I started at 13. And my English isn't getting any better due to lack of writing ._.)

I better update this story faster to finish it off in a rush and write something else better. xD

_**Comment?**_

_[03.01.2009 - 3:25am xD]_


	12. Friend? : Jyousei Shounan Start

Will you read? o.O!

T.T

* * *

"_In order to get my shoulder healed, I will have to go to Germany."_

"It's still kinda hard to believe he said that," started a troubled Taiya, scratching her answer to a difficult mathematics question with ease on paper. They were in class 3-6's classroom for lunch-break, Eiji and Fuji leaning on the wall near the classroom window near Taiya's desk. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried."

"Yes, it certainly was a shock," admitted Fuji.

"_O'chibi_ looked shocked too," input Eiji, leaning back on the desk in front of Taiya's. "I never thought of Tezuka's injury getting so bad; he always played perfectly fine in practice."

"Well, the most unexpected things can happen," said Taiya, finishing another question with little thought. "I never knew how bad my lack of stamina could have had on me either until it was too late. Tezuka-san over-exerted himself….I just hope he's alright."

"…I guess it's not like he's going there forever."

"I suppose…" said Fuji. "It's just…if the other schools know Tezuka isn't in our line-up, they'll change their line-up accordingly. We need to think of a new strategy."

"Inui and Ryuzaki-sensei will do something," stated Eiji confidently.

"Yeah…"

Taiya left earlier that day, notifying Fuji that they wouldn't be going home together, a change in their usual routine. Her reason for going home was simple: a headache. What, with Tezuka going to Germany for God-knows-how-long along with the club's increase in training and, finally, the letter.

'_I forgot to tell them last time,'_ the girl recalled, as the conversation with her two friends after they left the Kikumaru household had been cut short. Among the three and a half page letter came a deftly scrawled paragraph at the end in inky-black Chinese:

'_Oh yeah, now that I recall, Ah Xing we come bearing a surprise:_

_Me and Jia Ke are coming down (real soon) to Japan to visit!_

_Be sure to introduce us to your team-mates! _

-

Before Tezuka's departure to Germany, it was decided that Oishi was to be the substitute captain, and Ryoma and Tezukia had a splendid and motivating match for the end of practice. The aim for the Nationals was everyone's joint goal, and Taiya intended to achieve it; she didn't come to Japan for nothing.

Tezuka's farewell , however, was more abrupt then what Taiya would have thought. They didn't even go to the airport, except for Ryuzaki-sensei..

'_On the dramas mum has at home, they all leave tearfully and on the verge of breaking down, like they'll never see each other again. Strange…maybe because there are no girls here?'_

That single thought struck a depressed arrow through her heart.

'_Oh my God I just unconsciously excluded myself from the girls department. I really did give up too much for reaching Nationals, eh?'_

Practice went along as per normal, with an irritating Fuji and a hyperactive Eiji bouncing around on the courts. Ryoma seemed to be the most unaffected despite his blatant reverence of Tezuka and she had mentioned it to him, grounding his hat into his hair playfully.

'_Anyway, our next match is against some Jyousei Shounan group---even as a side player, I must get better to the point I can join them as a team to the Nationals!' _

Training alongside Kaidou was as exhilarating as ever, and Inui's helpful tips had improved her performance over the weeks in leaps and bounds. Her hard work was almost second to none (Kaidoh still existed, you see) and she could almost outstrip the others in short-distance sprints. Oishi and the others persistently held their hold over her in long distance, however, to protect their pride.

"Sanzushi-senpai."

Taiya turned to face Ryoma, staring questioningly. "Yes, Echizen-kun?"

The serious look on his face recalled the moments she talked to him about her father and his father. Her curiosity about their relationship just might be satisfied (as Aiki refused to tell her unless she agreed to get dolled up). Taking a drought from her water bottle, she waited expectantly

"…You owe me Ponta."

The water promptly flew out from the surprise.

'_I should have expected that. -.-'_

-

'_Stay focused!'_

Taiya, already speeding towards the ball that flew with a _hwoomph _from the ball machine, positioned herself in yet another slightly different stance from her usual before hitting a perfect top-spin back, feet already in rapid, springy motion to retrieve any chance balls.

She was further in town than usual at a gym with a handy tennis training court. The machine shot the balls out at random intervals and it altered courses of direction. Taiya had recovered her excellent reaction time and footwork, pausing only for a short water break. After all, any of the indolence Taiya showed at the start of the year was being swept away to the point of being untraceable.

'_Inui said to try taking an extra two steps when I come for the backhand—' _She performed a near flawless, swift movement before almost running into the next ball. 'Ah, _I see; it increases the distance I can travel in a lower time frame. Trust Inui to be able to pick out little things like that to improve my speed—I would have probably just run miles of laps in an hour.'_

Having already been at the gym for a grueling three hours with the same number of breaks, Taiya could feel her cursed stamina screaming at her to _stop for one bloody second, _signaling that it was time to head back home.

Back to Aiki, who had a day off and would probably make her wear a whole bunch of clothes she got from the agency.

She visibly shuddered.

'_Ah, the ball should run out about now…'_

As predicted, soon enough the machine whirred to a stop and a hesitant beeping resounded from the back, blinking a minute red light. Slowly, Taiya forced her sweaty body to walk almost staggering steps towards her belongings, before shouldering them and heading off, acknowledging those whom she was acquainted with a short nod.

'_That match Tezuka-san had with Echizen-kun was…so high-level…I have to work hard if I want to be where they are!'_

Too caught up in her thoughts to pay attention to her surroundings, Taiya headed home with her headphones dangling from her ears….only to bang into an unfortunate bloke and get sent sprawled on her ass.

'_Ow, geez__！__Am I unlucky or what—_'

"Oi, you okay? Watch where you're goin', would you? It's dangerous walking around like that," came a male's voice

A tick appeared on Taiya's forehead but she accepted the offered hand, knowing it _was _her fault for the collision. Damn, Fuji had been putting her on an angry edge for all too long a while.

"Thank you. I apologize for bumping into—YOU!" she suddenly shouted as she pointed an accusatory finger at the other's face rather rudely. Then she gasped and withdrew her hand as quick as lightning, giving a quick bow. "I'm sorry, that was rude!"

The other teen scratched the side of his neck with a finger and smirked, "Yeah, no doubt about that. Wait, aren't you….?" He inspected her face and upon closer observation he exclaimed, "Ah! You're that Sanzushi guy from Seigaku!"

"Yes…Shishido-san; Sanzushi Taichi _desu_."

-

Shishido Ryou of Hyotei Gakuen had been around the area looking for a well-known sports shop he was recommended to and Taiya offered to show the way. It came as a surprise to Taiya when he held some unexpected familiarities with the said Chinese girl, getting along impeccably well for two people of rivaling tennis clubs (as well as genders). Not that he knew, since by habit she had taken it upon herself to wear that strange corset-like thing set along with extra bandages.

Down from him being a dash/speed specialist down to his hair being chopped off, Taiya had a feeling they were more similar then people would have expected.

"….Oh yeah, I heard about you being known for being a Dash Specialist! I asked Inui for some information since I was new."

"You're a Dash Specialist yourself, aren't you?" he questioned with a raised brow.

"I don't know, Inui just said I was abnormal," she said straight-forwardly.

Leaves blew past and swirled in ascending loops. The sun beat down on their backs of their necks unmercifully.

"I…see. Well I was watching the doubles match; Kikumaru and you made a good make-shift pair…but of course the win was just a fluke," he scoffed cockily, waving his hand airily.

"Say that again, _teme(-)_!!"

"I _said_ it was a fluke," he smirked. God, he smirked almost as much as she did on a bad day and she felt the urge to comment on it.

"You better stop that smirk before I smack it off for you," she warned, despite her weariness after all the previous training.

"Ah, _scary_," he mocked.

They had reached the store and walked in, looking around at all the available products which were stashed on high wooden shelves or behind glass compartments. Taiya stood there awkwardly.

'_Do I follow him in? I just offered to show him here though…and it's not like we're acquainted or anything, but—'_

"Oi, would you help me pick out some new shoes, Sanzushi?" called Shishido from the other side of the store, waving her over impatiently. "Choutarou was good at this but he had to visit relatives…"

"But it feels like I'm helping the enemy!" Taiya exclaimed as he tested the grip of yet another pair of runners. He raised an eyebrow.

"It's just shoes."

"Still!" She gave him an _are-you-retarded _look.

"You're weird. Whatever, just get over here," he said, shaking his head and directed his attention back to the rows of shoes. About 20 minutes later they were out again, Taiya stretching as her muscles started to cramp after all that exercise. She ignored the accumulating sweat on her forehead.

And then suddenly, she stumbled. Her heart thudded dutifully in her chest, but with an extra, painful lurch.

'_T-this is…!' _

"Oi, you okay?" asked Shishido, apparently unaware of what to do, especially after she started coughing. He awkwardly patted her back before moving her to a nearby park bench. "Oi, hang in there!" he shouted as the girl's face turned pale.

"I…I think the heat got to me…." She huffed as he made another swipe at her forehead with her wristband. "I just overexerted myself…sorry, Shishido…san; I think you'll have to get someone else to show you around—" She coughed again into her hand after straightening, "—I better go home."

"Are you sure? I mean, you look like wind is going to blow you over," he stated uncertainly, grinning sheepishly at the death-glare she sent his way. "Um, I'll walk with you. Just in case something happens."

"If you say so…." Taiya was in no mood to argue before she slumped again, only to have him quickly catch her and steady her back to her feet. "Sorry 'bout that…" she mumbled.

"Nah, but we better get back, fast; it feels like the temperature is rising."

They walked back in silence, one of his hands supporting her as she walked back. The wave of dizziness that hit her reminded her of the event at the St. Rudolph's match. _'Is this a replay? Or is this God's way of saying '_back out of tennis, bitch!'_?' _

She glanced over to Shishido, who looked determined and, if possible, slightly worried. He glanced back and she noted the look in his eyes: he was treating her almost like a…_girl_.

Taiya growled to herself in shame. _'This is humiliating…!'_

The soon reached the Sanzushi residence.

"Hello—OH MY _天啊 _(heavens!) GOD!" Aiki looked at Taiya's fevered face and immediately bustled her in. "Taiya, what happened? **Ah Xing, are you sick again? I told you not to train so much!**" she exclaimed before finally realizing the awkward male teenager standing on her doorstep. She swiftly swapped dialects. "Please come inside."

Shishido sweat-dropped, looking sheepish as he held his hands in front of himself, "N-no, it's fine, he just looked like—"

"You were the one who brought Taiya back come, the least I can do if offer you tea. Unless you're in a rush of course," she added.

"Oh no, that's not…" Then a befuddled expression crossed over his face. _'Taiya…? Isn't he called Taichi…?' _Glancing at the form now lying across the couch tiredly, he felt his suspicions rise.

"If you insist then…"

-

Taiya woke up in a daze, towel on her forehead and clothes clinging to her shoulders like uncomfortable hands. "Urgh…." Feeling a presence in the room and wondering if it was Fuji (for some reason), she rolled over….

…only to see Shishido sitting there awkwardly on the other cough with a cup of tea in his hands, staring at her.

"Yo…Sanzushi Taiya," he said, the name rolling off his tongue like a marble.

"…..Oh shit," Taiya said intelligently.

Shishido smirked. "Ah ah ah, girls shouldn't swear like that. Thought there was something wrong, what, with you looking so feminine."

"Shut up," she groaned. "…..Are you going to tell them? Tell people?" Taiya asked slowly, hand draped over her eyes, obscuring them from view.

'_This secret is not even a secret anymore, just a burden.'_

"I really don't know what to do with this information, to tell you the truth," Shishido said with a casual shrug, before scratching at his neck. "For one, I don't think having girls playing in a _boy's _tournament is even allowed. Your team might—" Taiya's eyes widened and she interrupted, "I have a request." _'If the schools find out…'_

He stared quizzically at her.

"Don't tell them…it wasn't the club's fault, it was all my idea from the start. If they think the club is part of it…" She swallowed, looking lost, heart thudding rapidly. "I…no, I'd rather they just know it was me. The rest of them have nothing to do with it. I'd be damned if I was the reason why they can't play anymore."

Silence followed.

Taiya stared at him with honest, purple eyes.

"Shishido-san, I beg you. Don't involve the rest of them…I'll take whatever consequence life throws at me and more but don't drag them down with me."

-

Shishido shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat but it went unnoticed in the eyes of _the _Sanzushi Taiya. The female which had beaten a few of the Regulars from the other school teams all the way to their own top double's team.

'_What the Hell…I feel like I'm picking on her…' _He thought with a nervous sweat-drop, shifting his cap on his head, the bill facing the back. _'Why the Hell is she even doing this?!' _He voiced his question.

Taiya sighed heavily, clammy-looking hands clasped in front of her between her knees which were spread out wide. He noted how she sat and was indeed surprised again that she was actually a girl. She told them the same reason she told her team without much he sat there contemplating the weirdest situation he had ever run into.

'_She's one crazy girl, that's for sure. At least she's not a fan-girl. In the end, it'll be Seigaku at the disadvantage with girls being physically weaker than guys…but she _is _a good player, I must admit…'_

After a long while, Shishido just sighed deeply.

"….Whatever."

Her head snapped up. "Huh?"

"Whatever!" He threw his hands up in the air before standing up. "It's not a big loss to us; we won't get anything gained from it in the end."

Taiya, just previously begging him with a dip of the head, narrowed her eyes dangerously. The sheen of purple had a maniacal glint in them. "Are you implying what I think you're implying?"

Shishido smirked good-naturedly. "You get me then; it's not like a _girl _could _beat _us anyway."

The air went distinctively chillier.

"Start running, Shishido-san. And next time I see you, bring a racquet with you."

-

The next set of tournament matches were to begin, and Fuji was over at Taiya's house in the morning. The line-up was:

Singles 1, Fuji

Singles 2, Ryoma

Singles 3, Kaidoh

Singles 4, Kawamura

Doubles 1, Oishi-Kikumaru

Doubles 2, Inui-Momo

Though they debated on whether to place Taka-san, who previously had a wrist injury, to the Doubles 4 spot, Taka-san had insisted its healing progress was faster than expected. This relieved Taiya, who had told Ryuzaki-sensei about her doctor appointment she had the day before after the incident with Shishido, else she would have been the substitute player in Singles 4.

"All ready for the games?" asked Taiya as she searched the fridge for some orange juice. Pouring a glass for Fuji, who accepted with a word of thanks, she continued, "It's against Jyousei Shounan right? Good luck…not that we'd need that much, of course."

Fuji smiled at her joke and bit into some toast. "Well," he said after swallowing, "I just might be _a little _nervous."

Taiya's eyes widened dramatically. "You're kidding: the one and only Fuji Syuusuke nervous before the Nationals? Please, seriously, you're freaking me out, Fuji."

"I'm really nervous!" he exclaimed. "Give me a good luck hug?"

"….Fuji, you really are freaking me out. Please, if you're joking, stop it." Taiya was trying to force down her blush and Fuji in turn tried to remain indifferent to his own _slight _disappointment. _'Yep, whenever I'm around Taiya, it's weird. I have to watch what I say before she suspects that I like her or something.'_

Fuji suddenly froze, glass halfway raised to his lips.

'_I…_don't _like her, right?' _

As he proceeded to do a self-evaluation on his emotions felt towards Taiya (all of them ending with an _I'm just teasing her _conclusion), Aiki rushed out from the stairs, looking excited, harassed, and beautifully trendy all at the same time. "Okay you two, got a call from the agency; they need me there today for a short project—" she smiled graciously when Fuji commented on her attire, "—and so, if you don't mind, we need to leave now."

"Have I ever told you how wonderful your mother looks every time I see her?" smiled Fuji as he got into the black car, watching Aiki totter towards the drivers seat in her silver stilettos and many-layered street-dress.

"No, but touché for Yumiko-san."

"By the way, Taiya, Fuji-kun, good luck," winked Aiki through the car mirror. Taiya had this strange feeling it was directed to her though.

'_What do I have to deal with to get a 'good luck' from mum? I'm not even playing,' _Taiya painfully accepted to herself before bidding farewell and, together with Fuji, walking to the courts for the tournament.

"Yo, Tai-senpai, Fuji-senpai," greeted Momoshiro as they came with a short, informal salute. "We're going to win today as well!"

"Sanzushi-senpai, I expect Ponta after I win today's match too," came Ryoma's nonchalant voice, laced with a hidden smirk.

"_Fshhh_, I'll do your part too, Tai-senpai," mumbled Kaidoh as he acknowledged his part-time training partner, who beamed at him in response.

"Yup! I'll definitely get back into the Regulars next time and join in on the fun! Thanks, Kaidoh-kun!" she chirped, the brilliantly mussed spikes of her hair wilting just slightly at her enthusiastic nods.

When everyone got settled, Oishi scrutinized them all with a hard eye. Then he broke out into a determined smile, placing his hand flat out in front of him.

"Okay! Let's play without regrets!" he shouted, looking excited. Momoshiro immediately put his hand on top after a similar aggressive cry. Taiya was about to come forward when she saw Eiji hold back.

"What's up?"

"It just seems a bit childish; it's a bit embarrassing…" he admitted but before his eyes everybody placed their hands in. "Ah, you guys are mean, leaving me out!" and Taiya laughed.

"Here we go! Seigaku, FIGHT!"

"_Ou!_"

Taka-san came up, and in his gentle voice, said, "Everybody, leave the cheering to me."

"And me too, Taka-san," input Taiya, hands behind head and her trademark lopsided smirk on her face. Momoshiro passed the racquet to a reluctant Taka-san, but in the end, it was all worth it when Taka-san offered all-you-can-eat sushi if they won (and wasabi sushi for a year to those who lose), exciting further motivation from everyone.

'_Mmm, yum,' _thought Fuji with a smile and Taiya, with a nervous chuckle, edged away from his creepy smile.

'_I'll kill Fuji is he purposely lost for the wasabi sushi…but then again, why would he?'_

Taiya grinned to herself.

'_I'll definitely play in the matches again soon!'_

A little way from them, Jyousei Shounan watched the Seigaku team with judgmental eyes.

"So that's Seigaku, eh?" observed Wakato Hiroshi, his head tilted slightly.

"Their captain is injured and went somewhere to treat it, right?" said a blue-haired Kouhei.

"In other words their strength has significantly decreased, right?" said his twin.

"_Sensei _has been praising them, but I wonder? I don't feel heated up at all."

"Doesn't seem interesting at all~!"

Taiya, who had been conversing with Taka-san, turned at faced the Jyousei Shounan team. _'It looks like…they're looking down on us.' _Taiya smirked: their loss.

"Whoa, that lady is seriously hot." Taiya's head snapped back to look at Momoshiro. _'He means that glasses-wearing coach? Wah, she reminds me of mum…scary.'_

"But she's weird," commented Ryoma. "She was hitting on me earlier."

"EHHHH?!"

"Jyousei Shounan Middle School vs. Seishun Gakuen will start now. Doubles 2; please make your way to the court."

"Good luck, Inui, Momoshiro-kun," said Taiya and the rest nodded in agreement. Taiya glanced at her watch before taking in her surroundings. "Woooooow, the tension in the air is….heh?"

A little way from the group were two people, both tall and gangly with slightly ruffled, black hair. Upon closer observation, Taiya realized (with growing excitement and stupor, somehow) that she recognized them.

"**Jia Lin?! Jia Ke?!" **she called out in surprise. Fuji turned to her in confusion but she stared straight ahead. The two figures turned and faced her, walking closer….

'_Oh my God, it's really them! They really came!'_

Jia Lin, the minutely taller male with brown-tipped hair, stared at her with wide eyes. Jia Ke aped the action.

"**Y-you….you—are…." **Jia Lin blinked furiously. Taiya waited expectantly.

"**Who are you?!**"

Taiya, in all her horrified glory, stared with dead eyes at her friends for 10 years.

"…..**Who do you think? IDIOT!"**

Fuji stared curiously at the exchange between the three.

'_Who are they?'_

* * *

(-): _Teme_: A rude and rather direct way of addressing someone. I think most of you get the idea.

**A/N – **I'm so sorry for delay (to those who care)! Got back from school before, and a huge cat-fight thing just happened at my house. -.- School is a drag~!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the short update. I'm getting a few random ideas, so I will probably update faster if VCE doesn't get in the way (year 11/12 work).

I know; I'm getting old, huh? -.-

Review? Suggestions, CC's, flames, all accepted. Provide a nice reason for flame though---or I get irked. Oh, btw, Happy Chinese New Year for all the Asians out there who celebrate/know of it!

Btw, who watched the Australian Open? Federer!!!! T.T Nadal is cool too though.


	13. Omakes 5, 6!

Another Omake…I'm sorry…. ;_; Please read this piece of (beep) for now…and yes I'm alive…

Written in under an hour…a spur of the moment thing…sorry for my dissipating humour…. T.T

* * *

[Omake 5]: _Fangirls Part 1_

* * *

Some time after the Yamabuki match…

"Can you believe it?"

"I _know_!"

"Life is so unfair!!"

The hot news topic that was circulating around for those interested in the Seigaku Tennis Club: Fuji Syusuke and Sanzushi Taichi were going _steady_. With other people. Not each other. God knows how much confusion that caused.

"I heard that Fuji-senpai is going out with some girl called Taiya—" Another girl let out a delirious laugh at the name, "—and that she strangely looks like Taichi-senpai."

"It can't be that they're related?" gasped another girl.

"How forward of that girl! She's already got a good-looking brother so now she thinks she can snag one of the Regulars! The nerve."

As the fans-that-were-much-too-forward shouted agreements with each other, Sanzushi Taiya shuddered in her room, quickly grabbing a notepad and then dutifully started to write a will.

'_Something isn't right…!' _the girl thought, pen stopping at the end of her '_to my dear mother and all loved ones'_ opening.

Taiya openly cringed as she saw through her window three hearses in a row drive past (bless those souls dearly departed) (1).

'…_Maybe…I'm going to get killed?' _she thought.

She never knew what was coming.

-

Four girls stood nearby a local store nearby Seishun Gakuen. They gleaned information from their Misano-senpai's stalki—reconnaissance mission that _the girl _usually stopped here to pick up supplies.

They heard approaching voices.

"….with another step in and a slice!"

"Are you thinking right, Shishido-san?!" another voice countered. "According to physics if you hit the ball with a racquet with 60-pound string tension with the ball trajectory perpendicular to the racquet then—"

"Gaaah, stop it!! Alright, alright, I concede defeat, Taiya-san!!"

The four girl's heads snapped towards the duo walking slowly out of the store. After a moment the taller of the two waved and walked away, seemingly to finish business elsewhere or what not. Who cares; their target was alone now.

Yuuko-chan sprung into action.

"Excuse me, the person over there! (2)" Manners first; they needed confirmation that this is indeed the correct target. Going by the black hair and purple eyes it _must be_—

They all paused.

…Something was wrong.

That person can't have been a girl.

Short hair, though limp and framing a slightly feminine face (_it_ looks _exactly _like Sanzushi-senpai!) also accentuated a firm jaw line and fell into piercing eyes.

"Yes?" God, even the voice was…!

"U-Um…" Yuuko-chan obviously didn't know what to do. Mika-chan stepped in.

"Are you perhaps…Taiya-san?" she asked hesitantly. Though the slightly taller foreigner who _looked like a dude_ had a moment of confusion cross their face, she nodded, scratching the side of her tilted head casually.

"_Aa. _Need something (2.1)?" the supposed girl dating Seigaku's tennis genius asked, unconsciously speaking as Sanzushi Taichi.

They took note of the carefully toned calves that a sportsmen would have. The arms holding the groceries were tense with the weight and lean muscles were visible in the _girl's _forearms and shoulders.

The four were speechless. The 'girl' spoke again, making it increasingly harder for them to believe that it was indeed the same gender as them.

"Well, I'm sorta in a hurry at the moment so if you don't mind…?"

She jogged off, leaving the group in stunned silence.

-

Taiya reached her household, greeting her mother, before looking down at herself.

"Maybe mum's right; I should stop dressing in bro's old clothes."

* * *

_Fangirls Part 2_

_

* * *

  
_

"Nooo! I'm not his girlfriend!!"

"Stop lying, we saw the magazine cut outs and photos! If you had just admitted it we wouldn't be so annoyed!"

"Noo, you're wrong, I'm just—"

"I don't know what he could like about this mouse," a fangirl sniffed.

"Oi, what are you guys doing?!" A high school boy jogged up to the terrifying scene of his girlfriend being surrounded by…dangerous girls in a green uniform.

What the…?

"Takio-kun!" the girl cried, launching herself to him. Wrong move.

"What?! Now you're going out with an older guy?! Is Sanzushi-kun not good enough for you?!" the harassers harped.

Takio turned to face his girlfriend. "What's this about another guy?" Mimi protested, orange locks flailing.

"I don't know anything about it but they keep saying I'm—"

At that moment the wind decided to take the slips of paper from the fangirl's hands and directed them into Takio's face. He pulled them off, glanced at them, and then his expression darkened.

"I'm sorry I'm not Sanzushi Taichi, Kaizora Mimi!" he sniffed, turning before sprinting away, crying.

"Wait, Takio-kun!!" the Taichi-admirer cried.

-

_Elsewhere…_

"Fuji…when some random guy pops out and calls you a short, hermaphroditic girlfriend stealer, what do you do?"

"I'd just walk away, Taiya. Just walk away."

"…Oh." Taiya's eyes shifted to the side suspiciously. "Whoops."

Fuji felt dread coming up as he sighed. "…What did you do?"

"…Reacted as I always do when someone calls me short, except with an extra for the 'hermaphroditic girlfriend stealer'?"

"…I suggest you lay low for a while from the cops for murder."

"Hey! I'm not that bad!"

-

* * *

[Omake 6]: _Respect_

* * *

_Set before Tezuka leaves…_

Taiya, contrary to belief, respects her team-mates a lot even if some of them do the most aggravating things.

She respected their individual skill, their determination to win, their goals and their passions. She admires their strength and their kindness in letting her continue to play despite the selfish circumstances. It was these factors that made her glad to have chosen Seigaku to enroll in.

And of course, she certainly respects Tezuka Kunimitsu, especially after the Hyoutei games.

He was not only exceptionally skilled but tenacious and hard-working, playing despite his injury and fatigue. She was just short from idolizing him as she acknowledges that he too is her friend, especially when they can converse about small things and study-related topics in the library.

'_Not only is he an exceptional sportsmen but he's intelligent and responsible,' _Taiya reasoned with herself, scribbling characters for her Japanese history essay. _'Polite and disciplined; I can see why girls would go for him.'_

She heard a soft sigh and looked up, seeing Tezuka comb back his hair tiredly with his pen-less hand.

"Tired, Tezuka-san?" she asked quietly as they were in the school library.

However at his silence she glanced around the room only to spot a group of…girls behind bookshelves, pretending they were inspecting books while trying to sneak glances at the tennis club captain.

Perverse giggles were heard and suddenly Taiya too felt tired.

But at the sight of the almost resigned look on Tezuka's face (a look that is usually hidden—that's just how far he has been pushed) Taiya decided to do something; after all, how long must this have happened to him?

Most likely since his freshmen days.

She stood up, getting the slight attention of Tezuka and the girls, before she made for them.

The girl's looked slightly embarrassed at being caught but Taiya knew it would be hard to throw them off without a little something.

"Good afternoon," she greeted politely.

"G-good afternoon, Sanzushi-kun," one girl stuttered, blushing slightly. The other three girls fidgeted nervously but at the sight of Taiya's friendly smile they calmed down remarkably.

"Excuse me, I know it may not be my place to say this but as much as your support is appreciated, the presence of you lovely girls are just a _tad _distracting," and at this she closed one eye, feigning sheepishness (while looking charming at the same time without wanting to) and continued, "So if you don't mind just ignoring us for the most part when we are in the library and leave your support at the courts? Due to practice we need to take all the time we can get to study for our third year exams. I apologize if this is a bit direct."

"O-of course; we apologize, Sanzushi-senpai!" another girl piped up, looking genuinely sorry. "It was inappropriate of us to do such things."

"We'll just give our full support at the courts then!"

"Ah, thank you so much! We're both very grateful!" Taiya finished with a glowing beam and dazzling smile before tilting her head at them. "Then, maybe next time…" She nodded at them before going back to the table.

The dazed girl's exposed to an extra dose of 'Sanzushi-trait Pheromones' departed soon after Taiya sat down, continuing writing her essay as though she didn't just charm a bunch of girl's off the third year Regular's backs.

Taiya didn't notice the gaze of a wider-than-normal eyed Tezuka.

-

Name: Sanzushi Taiya

Location: Library

Time: 12:34PM

Note: Unknowingly gained the respect of her tennis captain, who would continue to remember this event (read: tactic) for a very long time.

--

(1): If any of you read Gokusen, three hearses in a row is a symbol of bad luck. In my point of view, _very _bad luck haha.

(2, 2.1): _'That person over there' _sounds sorta rude in English and is a bit direct, but if I say it in Japanese it sounds almost alright (_asoko no hito_). And as for 2.1, I'm thinking of her speech as something like なんか要 (_nanka you?_) which is short, 'boyish-speak' of "do you need something?". Sorry that this is irrelevant, just for anyone who's…I dunno, curious.

-

**A/N: **What can I say…a two year writer's block has dulled me down to a bag of uninteresting. I'm sorry for these crappy fillers before I can figure out how to end the next chapter. But if you don't mind, **comment on what you think** **if you can spare the energy. ** –smiles-

I thank all of you who have been so kind to me over these years and to those who have reviewed and encouraged me.

**Thank you for your endless patience.**

(Next chapter ABSOLUTELY MUST be done before January ends. Sorry, but next week is all exams; no time).


	14. A Glimpse Of The Curious Past

Long Version Recap:

Chapter 10:

Taiya visits Eiji's house; Fuji drops by later. She recalls a reply letter from friends in China.

Fuji tells Taiya that Tezuka is going to Germany and won't be in the upcoming matches.

Chapter 11:

Random talk between 3-6 trio about Tezuka. Recalls section of the letter from friend. A short indication of Tezuka and Ryoma's match.

Taiya meets Shishido and is uncovered, but he couldn't really care less. Jyousei Shounan matches. Ends abruptly with (read Direct Re-cap)

Direct Recap:

"**Who are you?!**"

Taiya, in all her horrified glory, stared with dead eyes at her friends for 10 years.

"…..**Who do you think? IDIOT!"**

--

[ Chapter 12 ]

The Glorious Randomness of Sanzushi Taiya and co.—along with Flashbacks. Lots of them. AKA. A Glimpse of the Past, Part One

Despite the loud and disturbing ruckus the group was making, Taiya couldn't keep the wide grin off her face.

"Sushi! Me like!" Jia Lin, or Rickii, strongly emphasized with exaggerated hand actions.

"_Baka desu! Boku baka desu (1)!_"

"Sorry everyone, these two are really big idiots. They don't know how to speak Japanese…well, much," sighed the Chinese girl through her team-mates chortles.

Seigaku was officially placed in the Best Four after defeating Jyousei Shounan, ending at Ryoma's match instead of Fuji's. However all of the matches were remarkable and close and further inspired her to train to develop her own style of tennis.

Of course, her two China friends were beside her watching, understanding the game mildly though not the language.

She sighed.

It was approaching the five-month mark for the time Taiya had abruptly left China, Sacred Heart Middle School, and her friends (who were all, _astonishingly_, male). Though at the time she did not think much of what she had left behind, the girl came to realize how much she missed her few friends back in Mainland China—even if they _were _idiots.

In that sense, there wasn't too much difference between the Seigaku group and them, she supposed….

Taiya then gave a swift slap to Fuji's hand without even glancing at him when he tried to swap her sushi with wasabizushi before sipping her tea. "Fuji, how many times have I told you that I've given up on that torturous morsel of food?" she smiled a humorless smile. _'Oh Fuji's getting_ bolder_; the war is_on_.'_

"Ah, Tai, you shouldn't be so cruel and just calmly accept my gift—" _'I believe she just declared war number 56 on me; I shall not suffer another humiliating loss…' _

"If I wanted to cry tears of pain I would have walked over and helped Momoshiro-kun and Inui with _their _portion!" _'29 to 27, I __**shall **__prevail!'_

"It's healthy." _'Done and done; swapped. Now just sit back and wait for her to eat it…' _

"I'm sure it if Fuji, I'm sure it is," she said with a roll of her eyes.

'_That guy is crazy, I swear…'_

Taiya then turned back to regard her two friends. "**So, why are you guys here? I know you said you were coming, but you didn't say why,**" she spoke in fluent Mandarin, cringing slightly as the unused language rolled around her mouth.

Rickii and Jia Ke, better known as Jack, both sniffed in offense. "**So you're saying we can't visit our Xing Xing without—**" (2a)

"**Don't call me that!!!!**"

"**Okay then, Hua Hua**—" (2b)

"**That's almost just as bad!!**"

Taiya flushed and Fuji watched the interaction with interest. It was always somewhat of a treat to watch Taiya speak in her first-spoken native language; it made her more different from the others around her, and it somewhat softened her features and tone.

Fuji and Eiji still shuddered at the memory of Taiya—_Taiya, _of all people (but then again, when they really think about it, it's not too surprising)—scaring off a bunch of random delinquents with neither of their help, spitting out a bunch of derogatory terms and names in Japanese that were fit for a Yakuza—a total ruin of a must-have scene in a _shoujo _manga. It was a pride-stinger, and they both silently vowed to themselves that day to step in and redeem themselves.

One day. One glorious day when Taiya accepts the fact she's a girl and actually does some, well, girly stuff.

While the others all laughed at the childish display, Fuji only blinked, realizing the difference between how the girl he had come to be fond of (as a friend, of course) spoke Japanese and how she spoke Chinese:

'_She…actually sounds like a _girl _in Chinese…'_

Fuji face-faulted, before proceeding to mentally answer the strange questions he had been pondering over for the past few weeks.

'_It's almost confirmed; it would be hard to believe I can like such a violent _boy_. Therefore, I do _not like _Sanzushi Taiya.'_

From across the room, Momoshiro and Inui gagged.

_-_

_At The Fuji Residence…_

"Oh!"

A startled Yumiko stared at the three cards she had just flipped over, before breaking out into giggles.

"The Veiled Artist and The Child from the Heavens," she smiled to herself, truly wondering whether her hobby was something a little more intricate. "With," her fingertip pressed on the surface of one card before sliding it towards her and holding it up, "The Nile as the middle card." (3)

-

After eating sushi at Taka-san's a few of the regulars had decided to follow Taiya home and stay over the night (due to some quick friendships formed between them and her two China friends).

So currently Taiya was glowering at the wooden table as Jack, Rickii, Eiji and Momoshiro made haste with her Play Station x. Ryoma was occasionally dared to play. Fuji, too, had been playing, but had given up after his concentration kept slipping, owing to the one and only Sanzushi Taiya, who bore a deep resentment for him after having a mouthful of the goodness of wasabi.

He vaguely wondered where his 'nice and pleasant' personality disappeared to, but then concluded it must have been kicked away like Taiya's regard for genders.

"**Yay! We're having a slumber party!" **cheered Rickii.

"Whatever he said!" Eiji continued with everlasting rigor.

"**But it's only with guys (practically); doesn't this seem a little gay?" **pointed out a disturbed Jack.

"**Who cares!"**

Taiya sighed heavily. "Once again, my endless apologies," she mumbled towards the four (including Fuji as she forgives him just this one time), who only quirked their mouths into either smirks or smiles.

"No problem…but what are they saying?"

"….I'd rather not tell you. I'm done being thought of as a homo," she deadpanned.

"…Hah?"

"_Senpai _doesn't need to say anything and I'd still have my doubts about—"

"Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence, _chibi_!" she snapped, a tick on her temple.

"That was for forgetting my Ponta!" Ryoma retorted.

"That was evened out when _you _had to ask that doubles team if they were '_cross-dressing too'_ you little punk—!"

Just then, Aiki appeared around the kitchen door, trays balanced perfectly on slender but capable hands. Behind her was an amused Yoshiko, who had dropped by for a chat. Needless to say, Fuji's mum and Taiya's mum were getting along swimmingly.

"Some late night snacks—Taiya, stop harassing the poor boy—and warm drinks." Aiki gave Ryoma a once over before suddenly smiling. "You guys resemble your fathers' attitudes so much it's funny, and that's not good for _you _Taiya—_you're _supposed to be a girl."

"What the heck, so we _did _know Ryoma-kun's family!" (first name basis as of late) Taiya said rather accusingly.

Momoshiro and Fuji listened in with interest while the two brothers and Eiji were preoccupied throwing bean bags at each other.

"Yes, I might as well tell you, it isn't anything big—I'm tired of torturing you," Aiki sighed offhandedly while her daughter gaped. "Ryuu and Nanjirou-san were friends back in the day of a tennis tournament in Japan. You were, what, four when we last saw their family?" said Aiki and she walked back to the kitchen. "It was Nanjirou-san who taught Taichi to use both hands when playing tennis. Ryoma-kun, pass on a message to your father if you will about a certain Sanzushi Aiki wanting to meet up with your family again."

"_Hai_."

"So you learnt _nitouryuu _style from Echizen Nanjirou as well? Wow, what luck~!" cried Momoshiro with a grin.

Taiya shook her head. "No, no—I learnt from Tai. Ichi. My _brother_," she reminded them as they all sported confused expressions. "I started tennis at seven, after my dad died," she explained, looking at the rows of pictures with her father, Sanzushi Ryuu, who had…a tennis racket in every picture except one formal family picture.

'…_Dad seemed to have loved that racquet more than me if that picture has anything to say about it,' _Taiya sweat-dropped at the photo where her father, tan and smiling, was cradling his racquet like his own child. Taiya was with her mother. _'Is _that's _why mum looks so pissed off at dad?' _

The revelation was so astounding to her at the present time that she didn't notice the slightly uncomfortable atmosphere around the room. It was well-known to the Regulars that Taiya had done her cross-dressing business for the sole sake of proving herself to her father and brother (amongst others, though she looked rather peeved whenever she brought them up) and the death of her much beloved father threw a wrench into their happy atmosphere (though Rickii and Jack were positively beaming regardless, having not understood most of what she said).

Taiya vaguely remembered the day she took up tennis with her ass of a brother right after Ryuu succumbed to his illness…

"_I want to learn tennis."_

"…_Now?!"_

"_What's wrong with now, it's as good a time as any!"_

"_Who taught you to speak like that to your own brother you—"_

On second thought maybe her flashbacks weren't as inspirational and touching as she thought….

'_Well, another bit of curiosity satisfied,' _thought Taiya as she laughed, avoiding a rather grumpy Ryoma after she commented recalling a fat baby coming around every so often to their house when she was younger, _'and I'm pretty sure all the other little questions will be answered along the way.'_

She dodged Ryoma, who was griping for his beanie, expertly before shooting a look to an equally amused Fuji Syusuke.

'_Japanese people sure are amusing.'_

--

"_So these are your squirts, huh? They can meet our bundle of trouble too." A man with cocoa-brown hair barked a few laughs. _

_A 29 year old Sanzushi Ryuu avoided a swipe from the child in his lap, purple eyes crinkling in amusement. "Yeah, she sure is trouble—ow, don't pick on your daddy, Tai-chan. So how old is Ryoma now, Nanjirou?"_

"_Haha! He's turning two this December, aren't ya, you little tyke?" Echizen Nanjirou poked the cheek of his son, who adorably scrunched up his nose in displeasure. "So are you going to stay in Japan after the reunion, Ryuu?"_

_Pouting as his eleven year old son led his daughter away to play, Ryuu looked outside the window and his eyes softened at the scenery before him. "Probably just for the year; Taiya will start school soon so we're preparing for that now."_

_Nanjirou let out a disbelieving chuckle. "Never would have imagined us as fathers, huh?"_

"_You _do_ know I've had Taichi for a long time," Ryuu said, cocking a brow. Nanjirou shook his head._

"_I meant us _both_. Well, Ryoma here is gonna be the one of the best tennis players ever, aren't ya, Ryo-chan?" Nanjirou grinned, lifting his son up in the air. Ryoma blew a spit bubble in response, looking absolutely bored. "See, even he's excited! With two tennis-playing parents he'll be beating middle schoolers in elementary!"_

_Ryuu gave his long time friend a look. "You know, your son just might decide for something else. Like…ping pong or something."_

_Nanjirou dramatically allowed his jaw to drop before returning, "No way! Ryoma's got tennis in his genes! Your daughter will grow up a tennis player too, I bet you!"_

"_Just because I'm a tennis player?"_

"…_Yeah?"_

"_You _do _know that Aiki is a _model_, right?"_

"…_An athletic model playing tennis then! There's lot of people like that! And with Aiki's genes, she's bound to have success!" countered Nanjirou, though with less confidence._

"_Taiya looks more like me. And Aiki did gymnastics and Wu Shu (4) before modeling."_

_Nanjirou fell into a thinking pose, one arm still juggling Ryoma on his knee. "But...she didn't pursue those like we did tennis, right?"_

"_No. But Aiki won the National championship for girls in high school when I got together with her," Ryuu deadpanned. _

"…_Maybe a stuntman then?" Nanjirou finished with a defeated smile and the two of them laughed loudly. "But don't you have anything you want your daughter to be? All parents do, don't give me that look."_

_Ryuu sighed, rubbing his chin. _

"_Well…if it's Taiya, I'd…"_

_--_

_Present time, Sanzushi Residence…_

Fuji Syusuke was lying in his sleeping bag at 11pm at night wondering what that _strange _sensation was he felt whenever he saw Taiya chatting animatedly wither two Chinese friends. It appeared whenever he was alone to his own thoughts, watching everyone just have fun and play.

A lurching feeling…like he was being left behind…?

Hmm…odd.

It might have been the potatoes he had the night before.

Fuji didn't like the direction his thoughts were turning. It was both a new experience and a disturbing matter all rolled into one. And Fuji Syusuke was _not _a person to be disturbed—it was usually_ him_ who disturbed others. So he decided to ignore the inward bantering of his mind alone.

'_Fours and a half months of a crazy, cross-dressing girl hailed from China and I'm already losing my grip. Chinese people sure are dangerous.'_

One look at the Sanzushi females was all he needed to confirm that.

--

Taiya gave a quick glance towards her fair-headed neighbour, eyes furrowed as she sat in class the following Monday.

'_Okay…weeeeiiird, he's distracted…and he kept looking at Jia Ke and Jia Lin the night before and…don't tell me he's really gay?'_

Taiya shook her head forcefully.

'_Okay, let's stop being stupid and plan out the next course of action: how to get back into the Regulars so that I can actually play and contribute!'_

The next matches were coming and all of the team—Inui included—had trained immensely, for the next matches weren't push overs. Taiya's speed-training with Eiji had made her one of the fastest on the court to balance out her lack of physical strength, something she was working on at home with some light weights.

"Taichi-kun, can you help me with my maths homework~?" a female classmate pleaded.

"Yeah, Tai, pass us your homework!" cried another boy who was in the basketball club, grinning over as he leaned over her desk with other classmates.

"You'd do well to actually attempt it, ya know, Sasagawa?" she drawled in her 'guys' voice good-humouredly, sighing. She'd worry about Fuji's strange behaviour later—after all, she had the rest of the school year to work it out.

"That's what we have you for, pretty-boy!"

A pause, and then 'Taichi' swung around to face another boy, "Okaaaay Haruse, you wanted my homework, yes?"

"W-wait, I was joking about the pretty-boy thing—come _on, _Tai! Wait, come back, Haruse! Share!"

Laughing at her classmate's antics, she returned to mulling over some of her history homework she still had yet to complete, unaware of the pair of cerulean-blue eyes occasionally flickering to her form.

Kikumaru Eiji, however, with his sharp eyesight noticed and grinned a cheeky grin.

"Fuji! Let's go outside and eat!"

"Wha-? Oh, sure, let's go then." Though Fuji's body turned to call out to Taiya, seeing her surrounded by their other classmates made him falter. (Un)Fortunately, he had his best friend Eiji beside him who urged the girl to come, causing her to jolt and scramble to collect her dropped pens. As she berated Eiji, classmates laughed at the trio's amusing display.

Fuji tried to force down his confusion but with little avail.

'_But that's for another time,' _he mused quietly to himself as he strode alongside his friends.

Merely five minutes into lunch, Eiji sat up and practically bolted.

"W-wait, Eiji, what's up—?"

"I forgot I left something, uh, somewhere! I'll be back before lunch is over so take care!"

Eiji ran off with that damnable speed of his, leaving a blinking Taiya and a puzzled Fuji. Placing down her chopsticks, Taiya turned to Fuji and said something that caught him off guard.

"So, Fuji, was there something on my face or something in class, because I could have sworn you were looking at me before."

What was a guy supposed to say to a (correct) accusation like that? "Ah, no, it's just…" Fuji's brilliant mind faltered and betrayed him at that precise moment. "…I was looking at Ayase-san behind you?"

"…"

"….?"

"…Was that supposed to be a question or…?" trailed off Taiya, looking rather confused and scratching the side of her head.

"Haaah….I'm not too sure," he sighed dejectedly.

Rolling her eyes, Taiya repositioned herself comfortably, "Just say it, Fuji; it's not like I'm going to, you know, laugh at you or anything—not when you have that look on your face," she smirked a little, eating an octopus-shaped frankfurt ("Japanese people sure are strange," she had commented gravely in her kitchen as she stared at the thing between her chopsticks) before saying in an almost-embarrassed voice, "Besides we're friends and friends look out for each other, right?"

And although warmed by the thought she was being a friend to him, Fuji couldn't quite tell her that it was that very topic of friendship that caused him some discomfort.

He was a bit too….closed off at the moment. And there was no need to worry her.

"Thanks, but I'm just thinking about the next matches and Tezuka," he supplied rather smoothly and watched as she stared at him for a brief moment then nodded.

"I see, I see. Well, you know, Tezuka-san is in capable hands, you know? The medical technology in Germany is…"

And Fuji listened with half ear, wondering vaguely if Taiya would believe him if he said he had been in the same schooling situation as she had as a child…

…That he, the prized 'genius' of Seigaku's tennis club, had been the shunned kid back in his old schools.

Glancing at the girl—who really looked like a boy now—at the corner of his eyes, he only smiled and inclined his head gracefully as she rounded on him for an agreement.

'_Well, knowing Taiya, she'd have an interesting response.'_

--

"**Ah Xing~!" **whined Rickii, draping his slightly lanky frame over her shoulder as he stared at her bookwork. Rickii and Jack both had taken up residence in the Sanzushi household seeing as it was a rather large house and had taken to learning the Japanese language as they explored the city. The girl herself had to grudgingly admit that despite their childishness and somewhat idiotic antics, they were ultimately strong in academics.

"**What?**" she murmured absently, expecting another stupid comment. She was not disappointed.

"**Why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend~?**"

"**B-Boyfri—?—the **_**what—?!**_" she spluttered, looking rather stunned—and confused. Rickii, the one who jumped to conclusions faster than the speed of light—well, this just proved that Jack was the smarter, younger twin.

"**Yeah, yeah! That Fu Ji guy! The only one who ate that wasabi sushi without crying!**" cried out Jack, hanging off her other shoulder. _'Okay, scratch that thought.' _"**Haha, our Xing-mei **(5) **finally was interested in a guy! Not a bad catch too, but I thought you didn't like girly-looking guys!**"

"…**You guys sound so gay that it's upsetting,**" sighed Taiya, rubbing her temples. How to discern her relationship with Fuji to two clueless idiots? "**Fuji is like you guys; he's a very good friend of mine, and he's my team-mate and my classmate!....And my neighbour.**" She blinked. "**My **_**next-door **_**neighbour.**" _'Huh...wow, talk about coincidence, eh? And those two dolts think—__天啊 __(heavens), imagine if me and Fuji were also dating, ahahahah! That list of coincidences could be a Guinness World Record!' _Taiya inwardly laughed loudly, outwardly chuckling a small deal.

(Just as a side note, she had just covered _irony _in one of her language classes the day before).

But talk about things that are the least likely to happen, she thought good-humouredly as her two friends let out exclamations of disbelief. _'Not that Fuji isn't a good guy, I'm sure he'd be great for anyone. But me and Fuji? Whoa, talk about awkward.' _

(Just as additional information, her classes covered both dramatic irony and perversity of fate).

"**And for your information, I never said I didn't like girly-looking guys, I said I didn't like pansies**," she said without batting an eyelash. "**And for crying out loud, we're middle school students aiming for the tennis nationals; I doubt we're mature enough for anything like that when we've got our own goals**," she reasoned.

"**Really now? But are you sure you don't even remotely like him, hmm?**" said Jack with a grin, draping over her other shoulder as he ate a cookie, courtesy to Aiki. "**Aunty **(6)** seems to have different thoughts—think you two will at least get together when you're a little older.**" And this Taiya swiveled around so fast that the two were thrown off her chair.

Feeling disturbed and indignant, she whispered, "**Mother has been what?! I don't know what she's told you—and frankly I don't want to know anything in detail—but they're all her own schemes; didn't you know mother is touched in the head? And I'm only in Japan for the year!**"

When Taiya said that something squeezed inside of her but she ignored it.

"**You should be kinder to your mother!**" scolded Jack, tutting. "**But, you know, why do you call him Fu Ji?**"

Taiya quirked an eyebrow, discomfort forgotten, and drawled slowly, "…**Because that's his name?" **

This time Rickii butted in, "**Isn't his name…Shu-su-ke or something? Fu Ji is his family name, isn't it?**"

Taiya blinked.

"**Oh yeah**."

Jack and Rickii simultaneously slapped their foreheads.

--

Fuji never expected the sight that would befall his eyes at the moment he entered the Sanzushi household to help Taiya with English.

'_This is conflicting…'_

He could barely remembered how he got to the scene as it was so utterly shocking that his eyes were open and his face was contorted in a look that almost never, ever appeared on his face. Only afterwards did he confirm it was most probably a new expression.

"Ah, Fuji-kun, come inside! I guess you're here to see Taiya to help her with her English again—bless you for that—but first things first!" Aiki stopped dramatically, beaming next to a hunched, stoned-looking figure. "How's this look? I chose it myself to match with her _boyish _haircut."

Several minutes later a dismayed half-Chinese girl was found comically on her knees in her room with her forehead resting on her left forearm and her other arm pounding away feebly at the floor.

"**Oh my God, my dignity…!" **the girl mumbled incoherently in Chinese but he, knowing the ever predictable Taiya, could guess that her words murmured about some part of her which was injured—maybe her dignity (he had a nagging suspicion he was spot on).

He initially didn't see what was so wrong with a girl being found dressed up in a collection of her mother's fashionable wardrobe until he recalled that it was _Sanzushi Taiya _in question here being dressed up in her mother's fashionable wardrobe.

Yeah—even Tezuka could see what was wrong with that image.

"I won't ask what that was; I'll just assume it was Aiki-san's hobby," Fuji said gravely. _'Though she looked sort of…nice. Well as nice as a girl who looks like a boy can in a teenage dress.'_

A casual teenage dress with accessories to match.

Taiya watched as Fuji stifled laughter. _'I can't believe Aiki-san chose pink!'_

"Damn you, I can hear you laughing, you jerk!"

"S-sorry, it was just—haha, just a little surprising—forgive me!" he laughed, raising his arms against her playful smack (or maybe not so playful…it kind of actually hurt, but Fuji reasoned it to her not being able to control her strength). She huffed grumpily before breaking into a small, reluctant smile.

"Ah, well, you're Fu---I mean Shuu, so I guess that response isn't so unexpected," she shrugged. But Fuji paused, turned, and stared with raised eyebrows. He ignored the feeling in his chest.

"What did you just call me?" he asked uncertainly.

Taiya, swapped back into black cargoes and a singlet—and momentarily forgetting her blown away dignity—nodded her head decisively. "Jack and Rickii mentioned it before, how I always call you Fuji. But seeing as it's a bit confusing calling you that in your own house, I thought I'd swap to your first name. You don't mind, do you?" she asked, frowning a bit in concern. Fuji shook his head.

"No, of course not, I was just a bit surprised," he admitted, wondering why it felt so…strange to hear that name from Taiya's mouth; he was far too accustomed to her constant calls of _Fuji_ even at his house and apparently Taiya thought so to, for she continued, "But Syusuke is a little long and weird—" Fuji sweat-dropped at the 'weird' comment. "—so I'll call you Shuu for short," she said with a triumphant smile…

…which slipped off the next second. "This will take time to get accustomed to."

"Yes, I agree."

As they sat over a low desk busy doing homework, it was the usually silent (during homework sessions) Taiya who broke the silence, "It's been a while since we've done this, huh, what with all of the intense training?" she grinned at him from across the table. Fuji smiled his trademark smile.

"Yes. With Tezuka out of the matches, we've all got to prepare extra hard so he can recover with no worries." Fuji erased out a sentence before resuming his writing. "So…where's Jack-san and Rickii-san today?" he asked conversationally; ever since they've arrived, Fuji hasn't seen the girl without her friends as they started accompanying them to school in the mornings too, attracting quite a fair bit of attention since Eiji usually tagged along at the sight.

"Out at some late night theme park with some random people they somehow befriended right away," she said nonchalantly and Fuji stared in surprise.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"Hmm…no, not really. Those two can get along with people very easily, and if they do mix with the wrong crowd, they're street-smart enough to do something about it. Jack learnt some basic martial arts too in China due to his obsession with Street Fighter and Tekken." Taiya pulled a face. "They're game freaks."

Recalling the time at Eiji's house, Fuji laughed, "That'd explain a bit—I'm guessing they roped you into games?"

"Damn straight."

After another bout of silence with only the scratching of lead pencils on paper or the flip of a book, Fuji asked the girl, "So how did you come to meet them? You seem close."

Taiya smiled fondly, a look which Fuji took note of because they were rather uncommon—her smirks were much more of her trademark. "I told you how I wasn't exactly popular when I was younger, right?" At Fuji's nod she continued, "Well, they're my first two friends. I met them in elementary school, first grade I believe. I remember the first words they said to me." Taiya imitated an expression and said in a childish boy's voice, "'Are you any good at games?'" She laughed at Fuji's perplexed expression. "Well they stuck with me thick and thin; they didn't care about popularity or anything like that so I was really grateful."

'_Old friends, huh…that reminds me of Saeki.' _Fuji smiled to himself, mentally debating whether to say what was on his mind or not. _'Well I might as wlel see her reaction.'_ "I used to live in Chiba," he started saying and Taiya looked up curiously. He gave her a small grin which made his usually friendly face appear mischievous, "And…" _'It's only fair to say.' _"I wasn't all that popular before going there either."

He watched in amusement as several emotions flickered past the girl's face before it settled on wariness. "Are you sure…?" she said with raised eyebrows and he laughed in response: it was a typical Taiya answer.

"Yes I'm quite sure."

"Why?"

"Well, being a _tensai _isn't all that great, you know, except for psychological warfare...."

And for the next two hours the two friends had chatted amiably over their English homework, which was slowly becoming forgotten. Fuji's tale of his prowess in tennis being the key to his isolation when he was younger had initially surprised the girl though she ended up contemplative over it; after all, she did have a father and brother who were quite the tennis players themselves and stories floating around always seemed to reach her ears.

She ended up wanting to meet this Saeki Koujirou who was such good friends with Fuji brothers and expressed this desire with the other teen. When he asked why, she gave her infamous lopsided smile and drawled, "I want to learn how he had dealt with you as kids; you give people headaches, Shuu."

Right after she said that both Fuji and Taiya comically hunched, looking weary.

_'It sounds…so weird,' _they thought.

_'Even Saeki didn't call me that.'_

_'Oh God it made me remember my lost dignity!'  
_

Scrambling out of unwanted thoughts, Taiya pressed, "But he played tennis too, right? This Saeki-san."

"Yeah. Interested in a match, Taiya?" smiled the brown-haired boy, taking a sip of the barley tea Aiki had prepared for them both. "He's good," he added, looking uncharacteristically serious. "His tennis sense is superb." Coming from Fuji, this was high praise.

Taiya shook her head. "No, I mean, a match would be good, but I was just wondering. It's good that you had friends to play against in tennis—Rickii and Jack don't, and my former team-mates weren't exactly my best friends. It was a real shock to those two though when I started tennis."

Curious despite himself, Fuji stopped writing. "Oh? Why is that?"

Suppressing a grin, Taiya's violet-coloured eyes bore into his own cerulean blue. "Because I always said that I'd never play tennis."

And although his facial expression remained neutral, Fuji's right eyebrow slowly elevated as a sign of surprise and Taiya burst out laughing.

'_Unlike in China, I actually made some irreplaceable friends in Japan,' _Taiya thought, still laughing alongside her friend, _'So I'm grateful that there was someone there for Shuu (-cringe-) like he had been for me and everyone else.'_

"Oh, Fuji-kun, why don't you stay for dinner as well?"

"It would be my pleasure, Aiki-san."

Following her mother outside to the kitchen, Taiya hid a small grin.

'_Maybe I'll stay in Japan even after the Nationals.'_

The idea was tempting enough.

--

_In Australia, somewhere…_

Surrounded by textbooks and papers, research reports and what-not was a lean, well-built young man with rectangular-framed glasses perched cautiously on the bridge of his nose. The sunlight filtering in through the windows of the boy's apartment highlighted his mocha-brown coloured hair and glanced off of his dark violet eyes.

"Of all things that could possibly happen…" he sighed.

In front of him laid portfolios and files, copies of medical notes covered in furious scribbles. Post-it notes were scattered on the wall in front of him marking down various appointments and numbers he usually forgot to attend and call.

The boy exhaled loudly, burying his face in his hands tiredly. At times he really hated his father for all the trouble he causes, but most of the times he hates himself for not being able to do anything about it. If only he was a few years older…

He peeked through his fingers to the shelves beyond him and ended up striding to the other side of the room, feeling the sudden urge to reminisce for reasons he couldn't fathom: it's not like he was a sentimental sort of guy after all, he nodded to himself.

…

Time stopped for a whole seven seconds.

…

Staring at the picture of his younger sister he felt an urge to cry.

'_Okay I was lying I'm a softie goddammit!' _

Staring back at him was a picture of an attractive lady with wavy black hair that fell to her chest and a young girl with neck-length bob-cut black hair with eyes identical to his. Behind the two was a teenage boy with both of his arms around the shoulders of the other two while his face wore a silly grin, a contrast to the woman's breathtakingly beautiful smile and the youngest girl's exasperated one.

'_It's already been four years,' _he mused, hands gripping the wooden photo frame gently.

Four years since he left China to study medicine.

'_Medicine which will be put to good use!'_

Without taking his eyes off the picture, the young man griped for his phone before flipping it open and making a call, all the while typing away furiously at his laptop. He grinned to himself at his sudden decision and couldn't wait to see his family's faces.

"_Hello?_" came a voice in English.

"Hey, Professor. This is Taichi Sanzushi."

"_Oh, Tai is it? How is the star student doing?_" joked the gruff voice form the other line, sounding amused.

"Ha ha, Professor, I've told you to stop calling me that!"

"_Ah, but where's the fun in that?_" came the cheeky reply. "_But I assume this isn't just a call for leisure?_"

Taichi's face turned into one of grim determination and continued, "I need to ask about our upcoming break and I was wondering if you could help me with something; something has come up and I may need a month extension of my break. If it's possible, I would like to ask to collect the work to be done during the first month back so I can complete it earlier."

He could almost hear the frown in the other man's voice. "_I see…well with the way you progress I'm sure we can pull a few strings for that; there shouldn't be any problems so long as you complete all of your theory work and come back for the practicals. You just came back from work at the hospital did you not?_"

"Yes, that's right."

"_Since you have no work obligations at the moment I'm positive I can arrange it for you. Pray tell what you will be doing to require this month off?_"

Taichi grinned despite knowing the man won't be able to see it.

"I need to take a trip to Japan; let's just say it's family business."

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry to everyone who has the patience rivaling Buddha as they wait for this crappy story to be completed. It will definitely wrapped up soon---early 2010 hopefully, because I won't have much time for anything soon.

It's my birthday tomorrow. Oh my sugar-coated-pumpkin pie. I started Himitsu at 13 on a whim. And now I'm old like hell (compared to then anyway)!

**ATTENTION (?)**

If any of you have a **random idea concerning this story, like something that's a side story similar to my omake but maybe slightly longer, please send it in because I will write it as oneshot if it fits xD. **This is to help me with my writer's block, so I thought if I wrote a few of those oneshot/sidestory things I might get over it and back into the rhythm of writing.

**So if you have an idea for something one-shot-ish and don't mind me writing it, please send ^_^. Credit will obviously be appropriately given and all that stuff so yeah.**

**In order to make it more clear cut, please try include these…if you can or want or whatever. You can see I'm not too fussed:**

**Main idea**

**Quote you'd like used?**

**Characters focused on.**

**And genre specification if you'd like. xD So the atmosphere is made a bit more clear cut.**

**And that's it. Thanks and sorry for this junk space. xD**

**--**

A lot of reference notes this chapter - - Sorry.

(1): _Boku, baka desu_: I think most of you would understand this. XD Basically, "I am idiot". He skipped out the particle 'wa'.

(2a): 星星 – Xing Xing – Part of Taiya's horribly funny/embarrassing Chinese name, literally meaning 'stars'. My fault for my lack of Chinese knowledge back then, and now the OC has to suffer.

(2b): 花花 – Hua Hua – Again part of Taiya's name, meaning 'Flower's'. With the 'hua' being said twice is just how nicknames go; makes it sound even cuter and girlier. XD All you Chinese folks know what I mean.

(3): I obviously, like everything else in this story, made up all of this tarot reading crap. Real tarot reading has a lot more history and background to it; whatever's used in this story is just for the purpose of being in it.

"The Veiled Artist", aka Taiya (cross-dresser, cough cough) and "The Child from the Heavens" meaning Fuji. In case anybody doesn't know, "_tensai_" or "_tian cai_" in Chinese characters sorta translates to "Heaven's talent/Ability" or "Talent from Heaven", and therefore giving birth to the meaning 'genius'.

And "The Nile"….if you didn't get this one, try sounding it out (it's a horrible pun). "Denial". Okay, I'm a kid at heart x) I laughed when I first heard it ("Denial ain't just a river")

(4): Wu Shu, martial arts. Look it up if you want more details. It's pretty kick-ass (It's the sorta stuff people like Jet Li and that learnt as a kid. There's tournaments and stuff for it).

(5): Xing-mei (星妹): Mei Mei 妹妹in Chinese means 'little sister', so the 'mei' suffix is a bit of an endearing way to label a girl, usually younger then yourself. You do not have to be related to say it though it's usually used between people who are close. And Xing, as you should know by now, is part of Taiya's Chinese name. Rofl.

(6): Aunty: Most of you should know this if you're from Asian descent, but we usually call our friend's mother Aunty (阿姨) and Uncle for the male, as it is polite. It's not too different from Japanese customs.

-


	15. Omakes 7, 8!

**NOTE: **I was supposed to post the actual chapter yesterday (as mentioned on my profile page) but due to me waking up at 5pm (yes, PM, holy crap, I know!) instead of 12pm, I didn't have enough time to finish off the end and run a quick check over on the chapter! Gaaah! And I couldn't upload it anyway during the day, I forgot, since my net capped. It's so depressing when your net caps.

So, the **actual chapter will be finished tonight and posted tomorrow** (7th Feb: some time between 2am and 8am, during offpeak hours!) unless I drown, hibernate, etc etc.

Here's the omake to fill in the gaps. They're longer omakes than usual.

* * *

[Omake 7 – Shishido Ryou Meets Chinese People]

:.

A pause and a confused stare.

"Ah, um—"

"**So, I saw you talking with Ah Xing! And yes, you were being followed by us. Why? Because we were bored.**"

"W-what?" An increase in perspiration.

"**I think your name had some four syllables or so—" **

"I don't know what you're say—!"

"**Mine has three."**

"You're not listening, are you!"

"**People usually look stupid with a cap backwards but you seem to pull it off quite well—" "He **_**does, **_**doesn't he?" **Another voice joined in.

"Oh god, there's two of them."

"**Nice cap by the way**, **very…**_**chick**_**." **Decisive nodding. "**The colour and design is simple, sporty and somewhat masculine."**

"What do you want with me! Directions!"

"**On closer look, he's not bad looking, na, Jia Ke?"**

"And—h-hey, you're standing too clos—"

"**Yeah, sorta manly—what is up with the tennis players here? Back at home, they didn't look half as—"**

"_I no speak Chinese_! S-Sorry I can't help you—!"

The path to freedom was viciously blocked by the sudden slow dawdle of an elderly woman with a metal walking frame, and the teen was once again caught in an unconscious pincer attack.

"!"

"**Hey, Jia Lin, his guy is sweating a lot despite today not being that hot."**

Said sweating teen was currently contemplating violence or screaming for help.

"**Maybe he's sick?"**

"Shishido-san," came the blessed voice of one Sanzushi Taiya. "Sorry for the wait," she continued, looking up from rummaging in the plastic grocery bag before she blanched at the sight before her. "_What the hell_! _**Jia Ke, Jia Lin**_**! Why the hell are you guys here**! **You were supposed to be with mum shopping, weren't you**!**"**

Oh yeah, Taiya-san was a transfer from China. She could speak Chinese (AKA act as a distraction). Thank god.

"**We were just talking with him…!" **Jia Ke defended.

"**In **_**Chinese**_!** He's a local **_**Japanese**_** person!"**

"**Ah, really? That would make more sense—"**

"**Don't feign dumb! And **_**why **_**does he look so scared**!**"**

Shishido, instinctively knowing what was being said, tried to school his features into something more dignified.

"I'm sorry, Shishido-san," Taiya apologized, ruffling the back of her hair in distress as her friends retreated to a safe place away from their childhood friend. "They're friends of mine from China; they were supposed to be shopping with my mum but somehow…"

"I-I see…" was all he could say.

"Anyway, here's a gift I got you—a wristband. Got a new one for myself; I noticed we both use our shirts to wipe our faces during practice, and apparently it's not that appropriate to do in public so I was told to use the wristband all of the time," Taiya admitted shamelessly, tossing him the black sports band. Shishido caught it reflexively while reminding himself the person before him was supposed to be of the female kind. "Sometimes Japanese people are so picky with things. Why, just the other day one lady was…"

Taiya-san could go on and on about how Japanese people were strange but Shishido knew better:

Glancing at the Chinese twins who randomly harassed him on the street (who were conspicuously hiding behind a telephone pole) and then at the stationary form of Taiya-san, whose one-sided conversation with him was interrupted as she got chatted up by admiring girls, he concluded that really, Chinese people really weren't that much more normal.

'_Especially those three,' _Shishido said, pitying Seigaku's number two player who apparently lived next door to said Chinese. _'They really take the cake.'_

_

* * *

_

[Omake 8 – _Tensai no Otouto_ – Little Brother of the Genius]

:.

Fuji Syusuke didn't seem to be aware of one thing, despite his famed intellect.

And that was that his beloved little brother Yuuta was aware of exactly who Sanzushi 'Taichi' really was.

It had been first confirmed during a visit back home after seeing the Chinese-Japanese chatting amiably with Yumiko-nee with the bribe of his favourite foods. Any fleeting suspicions he had during their first meeting during the St. Rudolph/Seigaku games reignited at seeing the two together.

He wasn't quite sure how or why, but Sanzushi looked like anything but a boy at first glance. It was only until Yumiko-nee started introducing 'him' as Sanzushi Taichi that he knew something was up.

Yumiko-nee _would _be the type to help cover something up like that. But…did his brother know?

How did a girl get into the boy's tennis scene anyway?

The day that Yuuta finally decided to let the matter rest came later on during a chance meeting. It was on the day at the street tennis courts a while back, with Echizen and Ibu Shinji versing Momoshiro and Kamio Akira in a doubles match over something which reeked of a love feud. Or whatever.

When several other Seigaku Regulars popped up, Yuuta got a strange answer to his question.

It appeared that yes, his brother did seem to know.

And not only did he know, but…he seemed awfully 'friendly' with said crazy midget cross-dresser (whose height was more reasonable now that he knows she's of the fairer sex).

He was…overly mocking and annoying.

Sometimes normal, polite and kind.

Other times drop-kick worthy.

Yuuta was honestly surprised the girl (yes, indeed, a girl—it still takes him aback nowadays) didn't hate his brother's guts like he did at times his brother was being especially overbearing. And the thing that really got his sympathy was the fact that apparently said should-be-hated-but-is-in-actual-fact-admired brother even made the poor girl get labeled as a homosexual at one time.

(Then again, his brother received the same label, but he conveniently forgot that to preserve his delicate mental balance)

Yuuta told himself the decision was for the sake of that poor transfer student who came to Japan only to have to meet Fuji Syusuke; she made the decision, and it didn't exactly give Seigaku an unfair advantage.

But the real reason for his final decision to let the matter rest—the reason which he himself didn't even know he had—was mainly for his brother, whom he looked like he despised at times.

His brother whom he actually admired.

His brother who seemed to very much enjoy the tomboy's attentions and company.

…

His brother who he had, at one time, sincerely thought was into guys—until Sanzushi Taiya hung around.

Okay, so sue him for having an ulterior motive.

He was Fuji Yuuta, the younger brother of the genius Fuji Syusuke: he was allowed to have an ulterior motive or two.

* * *

Owari.

These were very, very random and you can tell they were written quickly. But I hope this brings even a tiny amount of relief from the long, long, long wait. Longer author's note on the chapter that's coming later.

RANT: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH FF DOT NET! You can't type exclamation marks next to question marks anymore! What else are they going to forbid? ! So...sorry in advance if it seems like a question mark or an exclamation mark should be there-the site is having some weird rules nowadays.

Tell me what you think? Without cussing, preferably. xD Hahaha.

ACYP


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